A Golden Drive Through Equestria: Shimmering Sunset Arc
by Psyga315
Summary: About a month has passed since Kelly entered the world of colored humans. Roidmude activity decreased for the most part. However, as one threat declines, another takes its place: a girl with an insatiable lust for power. A princess from another realm is dragged into the mess by this desire and now in order to save the world, Kelly must work with the pony princess: Twilight Sparkle.
1. Why Does This Feel Familiar?

My name is Kelly Randall. About a month or so ago, I picked up a belt from a vendor at Comicon while cosplaying as Ryoma Sengoku. That belt was a deluxe edition Banno Driver from Kamen Rider Drive. Little did I know that it was the _real_ Banno Driver. However, I only realized it once I was transported into another world where humans have various skin colors.

To make matters worse, time stopping robots called the Roidmudes wish for the belt so that they can reclaim the mad scientist inside the belt: Tenjuro Banno. However, the Belt was stuck onto me, meaning if they want the belt, they'll also want me too, hurting anyone who would come between them and their prizes.

Thus, me and Banno made a pact to defeat the Roidmudes. It's not an easy alliance though. I want to save the world while Banno wants to take it over. There's no doubt that we'll come to blows once the threat is gone... Which may come sooner rather than later, as we took out one of their generals: Roidmude 006, who had evolved into the Nerve Roidmude during a rebellion against their former leader Heart.

There had been a quiet resistance, though. The Judge Roidmude had been silently resetting the Roidmudes one by one with the help of the Roidmudes' Grim Reaper, a human by the name of Ross Rosevelt who seemed to have been put in the same situation as I have, being transported into another world possessing the memories of the person you're dressed as.

In his case, it was apparently Little Red Riding Hood if she had a scythe and could move so fact, it could counteract Slowdown, the method the Roidmudes used to stop time. With Ross' help and Judge's sacrifice, Banno and I have managed to defeat Nerve and save the city...

Now I wonder about the possible calm before the storm as I had recently defeated a corrupted Roidmude with the help of a mysterious rider by the name of Buki. During this battle, I recovered a rifle... That's where this story continues.

* * *

It wasn't easy getting Soarin' to hand the rifle over to me, but when I told him I would do some research, he gushed about how he was contributing to Professor Silverbolt's work.

The harder part was hiding the rifle in the library. I'm pretty sure the school had a zero tolerance towards guns. I inspected the gun.

"Yep, pretty Halo." I said. I remembered playing a little bit of the game, but I wasn't exactly hard-core. Turning on the belt, I transformed into Gold Drive. Banno sighed as he switched over to hand me the Technic Shift Car. I plugged it in and my HUD changed to create some charts.

" **Hmmm… This is strange.** " Banno asked.

"What is?" I asked as I saw a swirling aura of dark energy.

" **I remember this from college… It was a theory some professor made exploring alternate universes. The theory that alternate universe travel is possible through pseudo-black holes called Voids.** " Banno said.

"Voids, huh? So what? We can use this to create portals?" I asked.

" **No. The gun is affected by the Void in some way. There's evidence of residue.** " Banno said.

"Hmm…" I wanted to test it out and fire the gun, but I didn't wanna alert the school. "Guess we have a new weapon for now." I stowed it away in my back though before I left, I remembered what Zoloto said.

" _The category of people who are willing to abandon their old lives, even their old identities, in order to be a part of something bigger. To make a change. To be a hero. To be Displaced._ "

To be Displaced? What was he talking about? I pulled out the gun again. No. It couldn't be by accident that I had this. I _had_ to have come across it for a reason. The HUD began to flicker, indicating my time is running out, so I scanned the gun quickly for something. _Anything_. Sure enough, I could feel something. A presence.

"So, found a Token." I pointed the rifle to Niko.

"Do you know a Kamen Rider by the name of Buki?!" I asked him. He chuckled.

"No, no, that Kamen Rider had nothing to do with me, rest assured. However, I'm quite intrigued with that as you are." I stayed silent and had my finger hover slowly over the trigger. "However, that Token is a special kind of Token. You want to see how it works? You need _two_ of them." Niko pulled a chainsaw fused with a sword out of his jacket. "Take it! The more, the merrier, I always say!"

"The more, the merrier?" I asked.

"All will be explained in due time. For now…" He walked over and handed me the chainsword. "Just… listen." He said. Without any sort of choice, I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to hear something. _Anything._ Just then, I heard a simple whisper in my head and I began to repeat the whisper.

" _ **AVE IMPERATOR, FOR THE UNSC, FOR TERRA!**_ "

Then two voices were heard fully in my head and the full message was then said: _**"This is Sebastian of the Dark Angels Chapter... And I'm Spartan Sebaste-915 of the UNSC... Together, we are humanity's last hope in the grim darkness of the far future. If you're in need of the galaxy's most powerful super soldiers, or if you are needing to bring death to the enemies of the Imperium and the UNSC, we will answer the call... AVE IMPERATOR, FOR THE UNSC, FOR TERRA!"**_

"Cool, is it not? Now, just think of whatever reason they can be summoned. It can be for a good ol' fight, hanging out, or-"

"I know what I want. I want them to help me protect this town from the Roidmudes. That's my reason: we need more protectors. We need more guardians." I said. Niko smirked.

"There we go, m'dear! Call them now!" He said. As if I was motivated by sheer determination, I shouted:

" _ **AVE IMPERATOR, FOR THE UNSC, FOR TERRA!**_ "

A portal suddenly opened a few inches above near where I was, and as it opened, I heard two voices emanate from it.

"NOT AGAIN!"

"FRAAAAAAG!"

Two armored figures fell out of it, one bigger than the other. The smaller one used what looked like thrusters built into his armor to arrest his fall while the larger one slammed down into the ground, landing on a hand and a knee.

"Ugh, I hate it when that happens!" The smaller figure, who I now saw looked like a Halo 4 Spartan Orbital with red and silver armor, said. "Whoever came up with using portals to travel has a very bad sense of humor!"

"Take it easy Seb, at least we didn't land in a war zone like last time." The larger figure said before looking around in a confused manner. "Speaking of which, where the heck did we end up? Manehatten?"

Manehatten? Did… Did he just make a pun? I stood there with my jaw dropped. In that time, Niko stepped in.

"Ah! Welcome! No, you are not in Manehatten, sadly. You are in…" Niko had a moment to think. "Well, this place never really had a name, so we'll call it Simtopia." No. I take that back. _That_ was dumber than Manehatten.

The two spun around, weapons suddenly in their hands before they relaxed and lowered them. "Who the heck are you guys?" The Spartan asked.

"Ah, well, allow me to introduce you two. My name is Niko Zoloto. Most call me Sid." He said.

"What, like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age?" Was the reply from the red and silver armored man.

"No, I think more like Sid the Lock Dealer from Kamen Rider Gaim. Slime and all." Was my response.

"No. Sid as in Cid from Final Fantasy." There was a pause. "It was the only name I could come up with that was cool, alright?"

"So which one of you guys summoned us? We heard someone shout the battle cry from our message, next thing we know, we're here." The second figure asked, and I got a good look at him for the first time. His armor looked both high tech and also archaic. His helmet had a mouth grille on it and the lenses were colored red. He had two massive shoulder pads, the one on the right had what looked to be a winged sword while the one on the left had a red sideways double headed arrow with a number 4 over it. His armor was dark green and on his knee was a single red diagonal stripe. On his back was a strange looking backpack that looked more like an astronaut's backpack

"It's a long story, but if you want the answer… She did it." Niko pointed to me.

"H-hey! You told me to do it!" I said.

"That, I did…" He turned to talk with the two summoned. "Well, I can tell from your reactions that this is the first time you've been summoned before, correct?" Niko asked the two marines.

"Actually, no it's not." The Spartan said. "We've been summoned… damn, forgot how many times we got summoned by other Displaced… But needless to say, this isn't our first time at the rodeo."

"Perfect! So you probably won't mind telling our dear Kelly here about the wonderful world of Displaced and how she has just signed up for war!" Niko said.

"Wait, what!?" I barked at him.

"Whoops! Look at the time!" He checked his wrist which obviously had no watch. "I gotta head! Take care of Kelly for me!" He said before running out and jumping out the window.

"HEY! WAI-"

 **ZIIIIIIIIP!**

Before I could even react, a mechanism attached to Niko's legs activated and shot out a rope. He was then immediately yanked out of the window and into the sky where that same mechanism shot out a bit of steam, giving him what seemed to be a steampunk jetpack/hookshot combination.

"What the…?!" The Spartan yelped, "He just went all Attack on Titan on us!" I looked at the city landscape as Niko flew away.

"Well, he _was_ wearing the jacket." The Astartes said. I sighed and turned to the soldiers.

"So… Displaced, huh?"

"Yep… So who exactly are you supposed to be? I don't think I recognize the character you're supposed to be…" The Spartan asked.

"Well, I'm Kamen Rider-" That's when the armor cancelled out. "... I _was_ Kamen Rider Gold Drive. Now I'm just dressed up as Ryoma Sengoku. Or as this world had decided to call me, Jetstorm Silverbolt."

"Kamen Rider? I don't think I've heard of that series… I was more into Power Rangers." He took his helmet off to reveal a tired face with blue eyes and a mop of short reddish brown hair.

"Well, Power Rangers is how _I_ got into Kamen Rider. It's the perfect gateway show." I said. The Spartan cleared his throat.

"The name's Sebaste and my friend in the Astartes armor is Sebastian, or Sasha to his friends."

"I'm Kelly. Well, around here, I'm called Professor Silverbolt." I said, noting the term Astartes.

"So where exactly are we? This isn't like any Equestria I've seen…" Sebastian said. He looked outside and then said, "Scratch that, I don't think we're even in Equestria anymore," he looked outside the library where he could see the parking lot, "they don't have cars where they are!"

"What?!" Sebaste looked over to Sebastian, a look of shock on his face.

Equestria? Hm… From what I gathered, it seemed they came from a world where horses are a dominant species. I remembered the jacket Niko wore, with the unicorn on the patch.

"You wouldn't happen to know that asswipe Niko, right?"

"You mean that loony? Nope, never even met the guy until now, seriously, that guy reminds me of a mix of both Pinkie and Deadpool!" Sebaste said.

"Wait, you know Pinkie?!" I asked.

"Yeah. We sorta do." Sebaste said. I took a moment to process that. Well, gotta interrogate Pinkie to see what she knows about this Equestria.

"Alright, thanks for answering. I presume you guys are Displaced like me. You're soldiers, so that's good. I called you here to help me protect this town from a threat. Ever heard of Roidmudes?" I asked them.

"Nada." Sebastian said. "I've heard of many types of movie, T.V. and game enemies, but those don't ring a bell."

"Basically, they're time stopping body snatchers. I have been fighting them for the past month or so." I said.

"And you need help taking them out?" Sebaste guessed. "You do realize that we can't exactly stay long here? We have priorities of our own back in our Equestria." _Our_ Equestria? That implied that there's more than one of these horse dominated realms.

"Hm… Perhaps just for this day. Any dent we can put into these Roidmudes is a good enough dent." I said. I went over to the map where I put the locations of possible Roidmude hideouts back when Fluttershy was kidnapped. It had been a week since the Roidmudes had been last seen, not counting the incident last night, but with the help of the Shift Cars, I was able to pinpoint where there might have been activity.

"Normally I'd patrol the area, but I have class to attend. See that warehouse over there?" I pointed to a place right around the Rabbit Hole. "Last I heard, some Roidmudes were trying to make this spot a hive for them after one of their leaders died." I said, referring to Gunman. "If you can go over there and clear it out, I'm pretty sure that can be enough of a task." I said.

"Copy that. We'll have that place cleared out in seconds." Sebastian growled. "Anything we need to know about what exactly we're going up against before we do this? We're not exactly familiar with the Kamen Rider universe."

"Well, first, take these." I clicked my tongue as two Shift Cars rolled over to them. Sebaste got a black dune buggy Shift Car, Shift Wild, while Sebastian got a green garbage truck Shift Car, Shift Technic. "These two will help negate any sort of time distortion you guys may find. Hold them dear to yourselves… Oh, and I think you guys may need these." I handed them their weapons.

"Thanks, but we're pretty much covered on the weapons." Sebaste said before an assault rifle materialized in his hand. "You keep them. As for the cars, we'll make sure nothing happens to them. That we promise." Both he and Sebastian picked them up, then Sebaste asked, "Erm, where do we store them?"

"I have just the thing." I went over and grabbed two sets of Shift Car Holders. Then I gave it to them. "Clasp them onto the side of your waist." I said.

They both nodded and did just that.

 **CLICK**

The two clasp onto the side and the Shift Cars click into them.

"You have transportation?" I asked them.

Sebaste smirked. "Yep, when you're able to summon any vehicle from your game universe, you don't need outside transport." I smiled.

"Perfect." I said. "Let's go, Banno." I said.

" **This… has been quite an experience…** " Banno muttered. I stopped, knowing they might ask who Banno is.

"By the way, I have a mad scientist in my belt. See?" I turned around and showed them Banno's face on the Driver.

"Huh, if he was in Girl Genius, he'd make quite the Spark." Sebastian said. "But then he'd be a plug."

Sebaste face palmed before putting his helmet back on. "Dude, let me do the jokes from now on." He said.

" **Agreed…** " Banno said. With that, the bell rang.

"Ah, class is beginning! I guess I can see you two off before I go." I began to walk away. Sebastian followed me to the doors.

"Where do you want us to rendezvous after we take the warehouse out?" He then asked.

"Probably back around here. Though, probably sometime after three, when the students have gone back home. Well, see ya." I said. I walked away from the two as they looked at each other.

"Students?" Sebastian asked. That's when they saw several students walking in the school, each of them with very colorful skin. Sebaste froze in shock.

"Oh you have gotta be kidding me…"

"What? What is it?" Sebastian asked.

"Two words: Equestria Girls." Sebaste replied.

"Wait, wait, wait, you mean that alternate universe where the ponies are humans? THAT universe?!" Sebastian then groaned. "Well this got awkward…" Sebeste shook his head.

"Let's roll!" Sebaste said as the two got outside. A Gauss Warthog appeared next to them. He jumped into the driver's seat while Sebastian took the turret. Sebeste revved the engine and drove off towards the warehouse.

* * *

Ross woke up to notice he was in a different place, and in a nice, comfy bed. Last he remembered, he was out in the rain struggling through the pain he just received. He could no longer feel any of his muscles tensing up. He sighed. Seemed the Roidmude had been taken care of.

"Good job." He said. That's when the door opened.

"Ah, I see you're awake." Ross was almost entranced by the woman's calm, almost seductive tone of voice. He found it very familiar for some reason. It wasn't until he saw her face that he realized _why_.

Ross rolled up the sheets as he saw a woman with dark orange skin. Despite the color, he recognized her supermodel physique, her long brown hair with bangs that hid her right eye, and even the red gown, though it a more simplified version of it.

"Is something the matter?" That voice stung Ross more than Nerve could ever do to him. His arms shook as his eyes wandered the entire room looking for Crescent Rose. If she was what he thought she was, he'd probably need it _really_ soon before she put an arrow in his chest. "My daughter found you in the streets last night and took you in. You're safe now."

 _No! No, I'm not safe!_ Ross thought. He couldn't find the weapon and he was pretty sure his Token was back at the Roidmude headquarters. The only thing he could do now is wait for the inevitable.

"You probably need more rest. I'll fix you up some breakfast, okay?" She asked him. Ross nodded, if only to get her out of the room so that he could plan for what to do when she goes into the room again.

* * *

The two marines arrived by the warehouse. Already, the place looked devastated. The doors were busted down, claw marks were all over the walls, and even the windows looked smashed in.

"Geez, whoever fought here had quite the party!" Sebaste said, his eyes on the HUD inside his helmet. "Right, let's check and see if anyone's home, if there are any civilians, make sure they don't get hurt." Sebastian nodded before the two dismounted and readied their weapons, Sebaste was equipped with a beam rifle while Sebastian had a heavy bolter.

The two could hear heavy snoring sounds. One thing was for sure, they didn't belong to a human.

 **Grrrrrrr…**

"Oh shit…" Sebaste muttered. "Great, freaking robots… as if I didn't have enough to worry about!" The two went further into the room.

Upon further inspection, they could see torn apart robots, pieces of scrap put over the floor. Resting on a pile of them was a large black bear. No. Literally black. Much like the wolf that Kelly encountered, the bear had white bones jutting out of its body, but it also had boney plates all over it as well. It too had a mask with a red line pattern. However, its orange eyes were closed. It appeared to be sleeping.

"What the…, that's no robot, that's a Grimm!" Sebastian exclaimed. "When did RWBY get involved here?!"

"I don't know, but I'm putting it to sleep permanently." Sebaste said before activating his active camo ability and moving towards a staircase in order to access the higher levels.

"Sebaste, wait! Be careful of-!" Sebastian started to warn the Spartan, but just as he started to speak, Sebaste's foot brushed against a piece of scrap metal.

The eyes soon opened up, showing a bright orange light that stared right at Sebastian. However, as it just woke up, it took some time to get up.

"Damn it!" Sebastian swore before firing a hail of mass reactive shells at the Grimm. "Sebaste, hurry up and take your position!" He yelled.

The Grimm got up and roared out, standing on its hind legs as it bore the chest plate with the number **102** on it. Particles around them flashed, and while they stumbled a bit, they were able to move in slowed down time thanks to the Shift Cars.

The bullets smashed into the Roidmude before detonating inside its body.

Part of the Ursai's chest exploded and left a hole in it where the glowing number resided, though still stuck in the Roidmude. It leaped towards Sebastian, though it seemed to fly over him and landed on the roof, sticking to it like a spider. It then crawled up to the ceiling, ready to jump down onto Sebastian. Only for a plasma beam to smash into its head as Sebaste fired from a concealed position.

Headless, the Grimm exploded, leaving the core to float harmlessly towards Sebastian before it faded away into nothingness.

"Geez, that… was terrifying…" Sebastian muttered. "But at least that thing is taken out."

Sebaste jumped down from his spot and walked over to the Astartes. "Sorry about that, I honestly wasn't meaning to brush against that scrap metal!"

"It's fine, just-" Sebastian suddenly fell silent as his enhanced hearing picked up something that sounded like it was approaching the warehouse. "Someone's coming, let's get out of here." He said before sirens were heard from down the street.

The two ran out and jumped into the Warthog and were gone just as the police arrived.

A couple of cops, Spitfire included, got out of the car.

"Man, betcha it's just another prank call, right?" One of them chuckled. Spitfire sighed. Ever since Tachibana's death, the cops had become less civilized. It didn't help that the clown Soarin' took over the department afterwards. She closed her eyes and sighed.

She wished for the days when Wind Rider was their chief.

* * *

As the Warthog drove off, a man on the rooftop took pictures of them and smirked. He wore a purple scarf over his white and silver uniform, had white hair and icy blue eyes.

"So, how was that?" Niko asked the man.

"I gotta say, Sid, this is good research. You say these are Displaced, correct?" He asked.

"Yes, they are." Niko said.

"The overseer will be thrilled to see this. Now, for your reward…" He said. He took out a briefcase containing a dreamcatcher. Niko took the dreamcatcher and with one hand, crushed it.

"W-What did you just do!? Do you know how potentially powerful that was? We could have cracked the code on this whole Displaced thing and everything!" He asked.

"If you knew what powers this dreamcatcher had, you would not even touch it with a twenty foot pole. Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Diamond." Niko said as he walked away, then leaped in the air and let his 3D Maneuver Gear take him off the roof and elsewhere. The white haired man stood stunned as he saw the dreamcatcher on the ground, broken. However, it was merely a setback. Mr. Diamond smirked as he looked at the footage he took of the marines defeating the Grimm.

"She will be pleased to see this indeed." He said.

* * *

I stared at the class room. Only half the students came to the school. The others were either in the hospital healing from their wounds, too scared to even go to school, or dead. I looked at how empty the classroom was. Only a select few students came. It was silent. The students expected me to say something.

But how could I? What do I say? My mind wasn't exactly in the right place. I didn't _want_ to teach. I want to fight. I want to make sure the Roidmudes were extinct. I want to be free from Banno and reduce him to tiny little pieces. But most of all…

I want to go home. But I can't. I have to make sure the kids graduate. I have to make sure this world is safe from the Roidmudes and their Recreator. I have to make sure _Banno_ doesn't take over while I'm away. I heard an engine hum from outside. I looked out and saw the Warthog.

"Kids, I know a giant amount of crap had happened, so I say we should just relax. I have an idea." I got up and went out. When I got back, I dragged in a cart with a CRT TV on it. I already had the VHS put in, so I hit play and stormed out of the class while the TV's speakers announced their entertainer for the class:

" **BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!** "

* * *

When I got out of the school, I saw the Warthog parked outside. I walked over to the two.

"So, how's your Roidmude hunting? Killed a bunch, I hope?" I asked them.

"When we got to the warehouse, it was a total wreck, like an animal had rampaged through there. We went in to investigate and….well, we found a Grimm, somehow it was fused with a Roidmude. We managed to bring it down, but before we could investigate more, the police showed up."

"A Grimm? Like... As in the Brothers Grimm?" I asked. I was curious as to how someone was able to fuse with the Roidmude.

"No. Like one of the creatures from RWBY. It was an Ursa."

An Ursa… The name implied that it was a bear. A giant bear monster? And it fused with a Roidmude? "Ah… RWBY. There's actually someone who knows about that show more than me." I said. I then clenched my teeth. "Unfortunately… I sort of ran him down with a car... Well, more like I shot a car at him." I said. The two didn't seemed that surprised.

"Let me guess, he's in the hospital?" Sebaste groaned.

" **Actually, we checked… He wasn't at the hospital.** " Banno spoke up.

"Yeah, some of my students were in the hospital after fighting the Roidmudes, but not Ross, surprisingly enough." I said.

"I'm guessing this Ross has more intel on the Grimm?" Sebastian asked.

"I presume so. He seems to know the show more than me, at any rate. I also presume these Grimm are not in Equestria?" I said.

Sebaste shook his head. "They only show up if there's a RWBY Displaced in that Equestria. And if the Grimm are here, my guess is there's a RWBY Displaced here." He said. "Each Displaced faces foes from the game, TV show or movie in their own Equestrias." That line shook me to the core. It was almost like I was drawn to fighting the Roidmudes… But Niko himself had stated that the Roidmudes came first, not me.

That's when I remembered a little law that was a constant in Kamen Rider: The Cross of Fire. It goes something like this: Bad guys try to do bad guy stuff. Someone gets caught in the crossfire. They're given the powers that the bad guys have and dedicate their lives to fighting them. In a way, the bad guys create their nemesis, much like how most superheroes end up creating their own archenemies.

In this case, the Roidmudes arrived into this world, and in response to all their terrorism here, I had to step in and fight to protect myself and everyone close to me as Kamen Rider Gold Drive. In a way, it was destiny that tied us together. I focused back to the boys.

"Well, Ross _was_ dressed as an edgy Little Red Riding Hood. Does that count as RWBY Displaced?"

"Wait… did you say he was dressed as a person with a red cloak and hood? He didn't happen to have a scythe that also functions as a Sniper rifle, did he?" Sebastian asked.

"And Bingo was his name-o." I said.

"Huh, well call me an ork, a gender bent Ruby. That's the first time I've heard of a male version of her." The Astartes chuckled before turning serious. "You need to find him if you are to fight both the Roidmudes and the Grimm. The universe that Ross's character comes from deals with these creatures on a daily basis. He'll have the knowledge on how to combat these things."

"Well, I'll be sure to ask him about these Grimm when I find him… _If_ I find him." I said.

"Speaking of which, when we were driving away from that warehouse, I picked up two signatures on a roof nearby. One of them was Niko, but the other… I have no idea who it was." Sebaste said. "But something tells me that there's a bigger plot to all of this, you and Ross getting Displaced here cannot be a coincidence."

"Yep. That wackjob Niko told me about that. How me and Ross were assigned to this world…" I sighed. "The rabbit hole just got deeper." I said.

"I know. There is a way to help others, however. Plus, you'll be able to see other Equestrias. Create your own token." Sebastian said.

"A Token?" I asked.

"Basically your calling card in the Multiverse, and a way for others to request your help." Sebaste explained. "It basically holds a bit of your soul. And the voice is you telling them that you're ready to either help or hang out."

"Hm…" I pondered it. I could help people across different worlds, or Equestrias, as they put it. Seems there was more than one. "How do I make one?" I asked.

"You choose something that's related to your character or yourself, then you say a phrase that tells others that you're available to help. As for putting the bit of soul in there, you need someone with magic to help with that." Sebastian said, his hand suddenly surrounded by a green aura.

"Guessing that's where you come in." I said. I knew exactly what item to use. I took out the Shift Speed Shift Car and handed it over to them as I whispered out. " _Start my engine_." I said.

Sebaste facepalmed. "If you heard our message when you picked up our tokens, it needs to be more than that. You actually need to let others know who you are and what you are capable of. It doesn't have to be too long, but not too short either."

"Alright… My name is Kelly Randall. Along with Tenjuro Banno, I am Kamen Rider Gold Drive. If you can handle Banno's cruelty, then you may summon me. Do so by telling us one thing: Start My Engine." I said. "Would that work?" I asked.

"Yep, that definitely works!" Sebaste said with a thumbs up.

Sebastian's hands then glowed before a copy of the Shift Car appeared in his other hand. Oddly enough, it was now golden colored instead of red. "I find it easy to create a copy to create the token so that you keep the original." He said before gesturing to me to put my hand on the copy. I placed my hand on it. He then concentrated and his hands glowed again, and I felt a piece of… _something_ separate from me while the replica started glowing. In seconds, it was over. Sebastian then stumbled back and knelt down. "Ugh, that took a lot outta me…" he groaned.

"Arg… Me too." I said.

"Now all that you need to do is send it into the void." Sebaste said. He glanced at his chronometer. "Sash, we need to get back. Alex is gonna kill me if we don't get back and you know how she worries about us." The Astartes nodded before his hand glowed again. A portal opened in front of us.

"So, that's the void?" I asked.

"No, this is our way back to our Equestria." Sebaste said. Sebastian then opened a much smaller portal right next to me. "This is to the void. It'll close after you send your token through." Both Displaced then saluted. "It was an honor meeting you Kelly, and I hope we'll see each other again one day." Sebaste said.

"An honor meeting you. Perhaps one day I'll visit Equestria and see how your armies are at fighting." I said with a chuckle.

Sebaste sighed. "We don't command any armies. The only defenders are us. Some Displaced _do_ command armies, but others? You'll find out soon that power isn't always the best path. Sometimes you give up everything to protect those closest to you or to protect others that need it. Think on that before you think that everyone commands everything. " He said before the two entered the portal, which closed immediately after.

I looked to the swirling vortex and dropped the golden Shift Car into it. It immediately swallowed the Shift Car up and disappeared. I soon heard clapping and I turned around.

"So, who the hell was that guy you spoke to?" I asked Niko.

"Am I _really_ that predictable? Well, I guess I can explain." The merchant chuckled a little. "There's a company who's really interested in this Displacing business as I am. However, they want to use it as a vehicle for armies and the like. They offered me something in return for showing them how Tokens work." He said. That's when my mind clicked.

"You set me up, didn't you?" I asked. Niko chuckled and clapped his hands again.

"Bright as ever, Miss Randall. You're practically _fit_ to wear the lab coat!" He said. My body shivered.

"H-how do you know my last name?!" I asked.

"After I displaced you, I went back to your world and noticed a couple of missing posters scattered around… What was it again? Ah yeah, Portland." Portland… my hometown. My body shook. I could no longer feel any muscle in my body. It was as if Nerve had struck me from beyond the grave. "But yes, in exchange for a Token, I showed them the power of said Tokens. They are rather impressed with the display of power those two have shown." He said.

"Wait, another Token? Maybe it can hel-" That's when Niko gave me a cold glare.

"Don't. Think about it. The Displaced tied to that Token is one of the most dangerous Displaced I've bared witness to. So dangerous, in fact, that I dedicated myself to destroying every one of that Displaced's tokens across the many Equestrias." He said. He paused and chuckled. "Oh, yeah, when you dumped that car into the portal, you just made, like, a million copies. Some schmuck can just pick it up and probably bring you over to do something as mundane as open a pickle jar." Niko laughed a little. I couldn't even speak. Every time Niko opened his mouth, my entire body goes cold.

"Your resolve to fight the Roidmudes is cute, I'll give you that. But if you make that your burden, then you're never going to go back home." He turned around and walked away.

"HEY!" I finally gained the courage to scream at him. But he didn't even turn around. All he did is say:

"Sad thing is, I pity you. You remind me of myself from a long time ago. Trapped in another world until you could accomplish that goal." With that, he flew off with his 3D Maneuver Gear. I stood there, unsure of how to process all that. That's when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey! Professor! Wanna go patrolling with me?" Soarin's voice actually perked me up.

"Sure…" I said.

* * *

I chose to ride with Soarin' rather than get into the Tridoron. The night I used it, he gushed and asked me if it was one of Silverbolt's many inventions. Out of fear that he would take it for himself and add it to his Silverbolt collection, I opted to ride.

Plus, it helped me, for I was about to bring up something that had been burning in my head for quite some time.

"What's with Wind Rider?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Soarin' asked.

"I mean… He retired, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. He did. He came to an age where being a cop would just prove detrimental to his health and so he was let go. I mean, he didn't like having to do it, obviously, but I'd rather know he's safe and living a comfortable life rather than risk his life just to protect people." Soarin' said.

"… I saw a picture of you, Spitfire, and Wind Rider at Canterlot High… When the Roidmudes attacked. You guys were close?" I said.

"More than close! We were the Wondercolts! We won more trophies than we could count. When it came time to graduate… Well, let's just say we all chose the same career path to make sure we never got separated." Soarin' said.

"Being cops…" I said.

"Yeah. Wind Rider was our coach, so naturally when a new district was formed, he became our chief. And then… Well, you know the rest." He said.

"And I guess his reputation at the department is bad?" I asked.

"Well, people say he refuses to retire. That he's the very definition of a workaholic. To be fair, if I retired and _I_ constantly saw that people were still suffering…" Soarin' paused and looked at his wheel. Conveniently, we stopped by a set of stoplights. "Around the time we graduated, there was a huge disaster. No one knew what happened. A massive black hole emerged from a research facility near CHS. It destroyed the facility from the inside out…" Soarin' frowned a bit before the light turned green. He started the engine and went forward.

"Flash Sentry was just a baby when it happened. His mom… His mom was one of the victims in the explosion. I… I tried to save her." He pulled over and looked at his hand. As he did so, I couldn't help but feel a familiarity.

I remembered a Kamen Rider who had felt the exact same thing that Soarin' went through. Not being able to save a single life. But, as I thought of that, I also remembered another Kamen Rider. One that was so recent, I could still remember the images playing out.

The gun firing just as time froze.

The rain that poured down on that tragic night.

His partner being unable to move as steel girders fell upon him.

His bloodied hand in the heap of fallen beams.

"Shinnosuke…" I muttered.

"What?" Soarin' asked.

"Oh, n-nothing… You… You have my sympathies." I said.

"I know exactly how you felt back at the hospital. The reason I became a cop… It was to make sure that tragedy never happened again." He said. It was barely a moment before alarm bells rang. Soarin' and I turned to see the bank we parked in had two masked men inside.

"Great. A bank robbery. How original." I muttered as I got out.

"H-hey! Wait!" Soarin' took out his gun and followed me.

* * *

"Rainbow Dash?" A nurse entered to the room. Rainbow Dash was just staring at the window. The doctors said it was a miracle that her spine wasn't critically damaged. However, she merely had to feel the steel rims on her sides to know that she's not magically healed.

 _Squeak squeak squeak…_

The wheelchair turned around to face the nurse.

"Yeah?" She rasped out.

"Someone is here to see you." The nurse backed away. At first, she had no idea who would want to see her. Applejack? Fluttershy? Kelly? She knew that they were also sent to the hospital after the fight with Nerve. She even thought of that Ross boy, though it was a mere doubt. However, when she saw who came in, her eyes widened. She smiled and, for a brief moment, it was like she was able to get off of her chair and dance towards him.

"Rainbow Dash, come with me. It's urgent." It was Wind Rider, veteran leader of the Wonderbolts and former chief of the Canterlot Police Department. And he wants her.

* * *

"DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!" As soon as I entered, a masked man held a gun at me. I rolled my eyes and kicked him in the face. While he pulled the trigger, I shifted his hand so that the bullet didn't reach anything but the wall. It made a few people freak out, but other than that, I was able to defuse the situation and knocked down the robber with a well-placed chop to the neck.

I trembled a bit. I had to remind myself that I was in the middle of a bank robbery. But then I looked down and saw both the knocked down man and Banno. I wasn't a victim in this. I was the hero. I glared at the two other robbers. They hesitated. I calmly walked to them.

"Not another step!" One of them pointed a gun at me. My heart didn't race. In fact, the only time my heart raced was when I considered invoking Slowdown. If only because I wanted to hold true to Shinnosuke's moral code regarding it, how using it scares others.

Though, I'm supposed to be dressed as a mad scientist and I'm wearing a mad scientist on my belt. Morality went out the window a long time ago. I readied myself to use the Banno Driver when all of a sudden…

 **POP!**

A red balloon erupted as it touched the hot florescent light. This was followed by a girl's crying and one of the robbers pointing his gun at her.

"SHUT IT!" He barked.

"No!" Soarin' ran towards the girl and shielded her from the potential bullet. The man who held the gun towards me cowered a bit towards the back. That's when I saw Wind Rider tackle him. I smiled. Thank God he's here to help, I thought. He picked up the gun and aimed at the second robber…

Though by that point, I felt an uneasiness in my heart. Especially after the robber lowered his weapon. My body went cold as I began to feel déjà vu. And for once, I wasn't remembering a memory of Ryoma's.

I swore I saw this before. My heart pounded and my perception of everything slowed down. I began to piece together everything that happened in this bank. The balloon. The kid. The robbers. Even the way Soarin' and Wind Rider moved just felt… familiar.

That's when Wind Rider moved his gun to the right… Towards Soarin'. As if in a brief moment, I saw someone else in Wind Rider's place. A man with glasses with an anger in his eyes, the feeling of humiliation and desire to get revenge on the man who belittled him at every turn. I froze. I remembered when Wind Rider glared at Soarin'. I remembered when Soarin' told him that he had faith in him.

And then it all clicked in.

No wonder this was all familiar. This entire moment was exactly like the bank robbery incident that claimed the life of Shinnosuke's father. Right down to his murderer being an envious cop. If I couldn't do something…

No. Not again. I won't let that happen again.

"HENSHIN!" I shouted and transformed. I knew Banno would be too much of a douche to stop this, so before he took over, I turned again to invoke Gold Conversion. I immediately took over as Dimension Cab flew to my hand. I emitted Slowdown Particles to slow down the bullet that fired from the gun. Much like with Shinnosuke, the Slowdown managed to throw off Wind Rider's aim. Now the bullet was heading towards the little girl's leg.

I threw Dimension Cab right towards the bullet as it glowed. It created a small portal on its hood in which the bullet entered. The other portal opened up right where Wind Rider's leg was at. I cancelled Slowdown as the bullet flew into the portal and right into Wind Rider's leg.

"AH!" He shouted. I ran to shield Soarin'.

" **Impressive. You managed to confiscate my control before the transformation was complete.** " Banno said.

"Well, I'd have to step up my game if a psychopath is gonna use my body for world domination one day." I said. The crowd of people screamed and ran out of the bank. The remaining robber tried to fire at them, but I created a golden barrier to block the bullets. He then aimed his gun at Wind Rider.

"Who the hell are you!?" He shouted. Wind Rider just aimed his gun at him. The two fired almost simultaneously. However, thanks to the adrenaline rush I had in stopping him from killing Soarin', I was able to observe that Wind Rider shot first. The robber fell down with a shot to his heart while his bullet whizzed by Wind Rider. Wind Rider struggled to get up as Soarin' moved next to me.

"Wind Rider! What's going on?" Soarin' asked. His voice didn't _sound_ angry or even annoyed. Rather sadness. Wind Rider pointed the gun towards him before I threw an energy spear at his hand, knocking the gun away.

"He's trying to kill you." I said.

"What? W-why?" Soarin' asked. Wind Rider laughed.

"Why? _Why?!_ I'll tell you _why_ , Soarin'… Ever since I retired, I had to sit idly by and watch the youth waste away humanity through their stupid decisions… You let yourselves be led around by the enemy and as a result, you let those students die!" Wind Rider shouted. I gripped my fist.

"Tachibana had nothing to do with them!" I said.

"He covered their tracks! He let them go unnoticed and it resulted in that massacre!" He said. I shut up. He had a point. Even if he was reforming the Roidmudes from within, he admitted to me that he would cover up the incidents soon after.

"And now I see _you're_ the new chief…" Wind Rider glared to Soarin'. "I can't help but imagine how many lives would fall under your command." He said. Soarin' backed away. "Kelly, did Soarin' tell you how he sacrificed the life of a newly made mother over his own girlfriend?"

"N-no!" Soarin' barked out.

"Fifteen years ago, there was a disaster at the Canterlot Research Department. Scientists were working on a means to create teleportation, though a freak glitch created a black hole instead. We were all there trying to rescue some of the people, but Spitfire managed to slip and nearly fell into the Black Hole. Soarin' managed to grab onto both her and the mother…" Wind Rider said.

"Stop! Shut up!" Soarin' took out his gun.

"And the idiot thought with his dick! He chose Spitfire and made the baby an orphan!" He said. I turned as soon as I heard the gun drop to the ground, followed soon after with Soarin' kneeling to the ground. "Do you see, Miss Randall? The youth think with selfish and immature minds. They can't see the forest for the trees. If they can, they'll cast aside the old and wise."

I looked at Soarin', who could only shoot a glance at me. He shook his head. I understood that he was trying to apologize. I nodded.

"Tell me… Do you agree?" Wind Rider asked as he began to pull out something. I hesitated. I knew just by looking into his eyes that Soarin' regretted making that decision. I knew it must have been a hard decision to make, and even if he made the other decision, we'd probably still be here, just that Wind Rider would bitch about how he betrayed his own teammates.

However, I couldn't help but see where Wind Rider is coming from. Not a single week passes where I don't worry about today's youth. People making bad decisions that would forever impact their lives just because of the logic of "yolo", teens partying and throwing away their futures as they drive intoxicated, not to mention my memories of high school. However, my thought process was interrupted when Wind Rider pulled out a Shift Car.

Well, it was _similar_ to a Shift Car. It had the same aesthetic as a Shift Car, a Hot Wheels-style toy, but it didn't exactly _look_ like a car. Rather it looked to be a giant bat that had perched itself onto a slab of stone. The fact that the car was entirely red sent me into a bit of a shock. Especially with what he said next.

"You _will_." With that, slowdown particles erupted as time slowed down. I dropped Dimension Cab for Soarin' to grab as I ran to try and stop the following event from happening. A Bat-Class Roidmude ran towards Wind Rider before it turned into a blur of data and entered into the red car. Wind Rider's body soon shifted as he transformed into a Roidmude. I threw a punch, though I was blocked by a steel hook.

The Roidmude, much like the car, was mostly red. He retained the plate that most low-class Roidmudes had, but now it was obscured by a steel plate with red veins. He had a cloak around him and a single, cybernetic eye. I obviously knew what Roidmude this was before he even transformed. It was Roidmude 106, the Thief Roidmude.

"Bastard... You chose to side with the Roidmudes!?" I asked Wind Rider. This red coloration, much like the golden coloration of Super Roidmudes, denoted a different type of evolution: Fusion Roidmudes. As the name implied, these Roidmudes are a fusion between man and Roidmude, not unlike how me and Banno fuse to become Gold Drive. The fact that the fusion requires synchronization with a human could only mean that the human had to have been allied with the Roidmudes.

"Of course!" He said. "With their help, I'll be able to reformat this world and allow the wise to command the dumb! I'll not let age dictate who will be our guardians!" He struck me with his hook as I fell down. The Roidmude's face plate glowed as the number 106 showed up on it.

" **Tell me something… Did you think it was by chance that you came across this robbery? We set this whole thing up with the intention to have that idiot Soarin' get here.** " Thief said as I saw the other robbers get up and shift into their Roidmude forms. As if to make matters worse, I heard the klaxons of my transformation ending. My hand hovered over to the ignition… But then I'd have to have Banno take the wheel.

" _Does it feel good to mope there when you have the means to fight? Or are you simply afraid to lose yourself?_ "

I remembered Buki's words and realized that I couldn't just stand here and let myself and Soarin' be killed. I turned the ignition and had Banno take over. He grabbed both the Handle Sword and Dream Vegas. Slotting Dream Vegas into the sword, he got up with almost inhuman reflexes and turned the wheel a few times.

" **TURN! TURN! U-TURN! THE FINISHER!** **VEGAS! FULL THROTTLE!** "

He spun around a few times while he skidded across the bank. He slashed at the three Roidmudes twice each. One strike was horizontal and the other was diagonal, making a 7. When he was done spinning, there were three sevens over the Roidmudes before they exploded in a shower of digital golden coins. Their cores, 38, 39, and 40, floated up before they all exploded. Banno turned to see Thief cower.

" **W-wah… How?** " He asked.

" **I created the Roidmudes. I can just as easily destroy them…** " Banno walked towards Thief before he used his hook to swing himself out of here.

"Hey! Wait!" I shouted. The slowdown particles faded away, though none of us were effected. "Soarin', get to safety. I'll finish this." Banno seemed to agree as he handed controls over to me. I gained Shift Formula. Immediately, I plugged it into the Shift Brace and ran out with blurring speeds.

* * *

It took me until I got out onto the street for me to notice that Thief seemed to make himself scarce. I turned the ignition to hand controls over to Banno as he gained Shift Technic. He swapped out Formula for Technic and his HUD changed. He scanned the street.

" **As I thought. He's evolved his powers beyond the point where not even Technic can spot him.** " Banno said. That's when we saw a large energy hook head towards us. Banno slashed it apart rather easily. I figured that I could spot the Thief with the energy hooks, but that's when we got knocked down by another one behind us.

"Damn it!" I said.

" **There is… One other way…** " Banno said.

"…" As if my mind was fused with Banno's, I knew exactly what he meant. He turned the ignition as I got the Door Gun and Max Flare. I put Max Flare into the gun.

" **THE FINISHER! MAX FLARE! FULL THROTTLE!** "

I spun around and shot a huge stream of fire all around me. Cars began to steer out of the way of the flame while some managed to crash into each other. I bit my lip, but found the ruthlessness paid off, as the Thief Roidmude began to scream out as he burned. My teeth slid off my lower lip as it turned into a smile. I turned the ignition as Banno got a hold of a different kind of Shift Car.

This was also red, but the way it was made, it was more of a side car with a white motorcycle molded into it. On the front wheel of the bike was a golden D, for Dead Heat. The Dead Heat Shift Car was designed to allow the Riders to access a state called the Dead Zone, allowing them to steadily build up energy during a fight, though at the cost of going berserk.

Seeing as this is Banno, he's _way_ past berserk. The light in Gold Drive's eyes shifted to the bulls 'eye design. We had hit Type Overdrive.

" **THE FINISHER… TECHNIC… DEAD HEAT… FORMULA… FULL… THROTTLE!** " Banno shouted as the Shift Cars all arranged themselves, Technic in the brace, Dead Heat in the gun, and Formula in the sword. Scanning the Roidmude with Technic's HUD, we fired at the Thief Roidmude's weak points with red bullets that shocked and burned the Roidmude. Each bullet became much stronger until the final blast split him and Wind Rider up, reducing the Roidmude back to his low-class form.

We then ran to the Roidmude at a blurring speed and slashed at him so fast, I lost count after half a second as we chopped away the Roidmude to tiny pieces. The remains of the Roidmude fell to the ground and blew up, as the Core floated upwards before it too exploded. As soon as the Roidmude died, the transformation cancelled out as I dropped to the ground. I wasn't as exhausted as I was when I fought Nerve, but it still took a lot out of me.

I saw Wind Rider stumble away, before I saw Soarin' approach him and slap the cuffs on him.

"Wind Rider, you're under arrest for attempted murder and being an accomplice." He said. For the first time, his tone of voice matched that of a responsible police officer. While I would smile for finally seeing some competence in Soarin', I had to frown a little bit. In the past month, I had considered Wind Rider my closest ally, but as he is led away, I couldn't help but see him as a traitor.

"The youth…" Wind Rider muttered. "It's funny how we throw away everything for them… and yet when we ask them to throw away everything for _us_ , they leave us for dead."

"… I never stopped regretting that day, Wind Rider…" Soarin' said. "I tried to make amends."

"You mean Flash Sentry? HAH! I hope he chokes on the dark truth once it is revealed." He then laughed. I walked over and slapped him.

"Professor!" Soarin's eyes widened.

"… I did that for you." I said to him. "You may not be the best cop in the world, but damn it if you're not trying to be. I appreciate your atonement, Soarin', and I hope Flash will if and when he finds out." I said to him. He smiled to me.

"Th… Thanks… Professor." He said. Wind Rider got up and walked away as we saw a police car pull up.

"So… You decided to side with the youth? I honestly hope, then, that you don't come to regret this decision." He stopped. "Allow me, then, to give you a clue before I hand myself over…" He turned and grinned. "Don't you think for a minute this is over." He then walked away, laughing. As Spitfire grabbed Wind Rider and put him in the car, I sat next to Soarin'.

"So it's true then? You're not Professor Silverbolt?" He asked.

"Yeah. Celestia just gave you that lie so that she could look into matters herself. I didn't mean to carry this lie." I said.

"No… It's okay. I think… I think it's almost time for _me_ to come clean to. Yeah… I _did_ have to choose over Spitfire and Flash's mom. If I could go back in time-"

"Don't. You made the best decision you could and you're trying to salvage the consequences that followed." I told him. I saw Flash look at Spitfire and frowned, especially as she came over.

"I put Wind Rider in… What the hell happened?" She asked.

"He sided with the Roidmudes." I said. Spitfire glared to me, though she soon closed her eyes. "Soarin', is it true?" She asked.

"Y-yeah… He tried to kill me and helped the Roidmudes rob a bank." He said.

"…" She turned around to see Wind Rider in the window. "A shame, huh? He was our greatest teacher and now… now he's nothing but a criminal." She said. It was at that moment that I recalled the photo of the Wondercolts. That's when I realized what he meant when he said that it wasn't over. I stood up.

"Crap!" I ran off while shouting to the two. "Check the hospital! CHECK THE HOSPTIAL!" I shouted. My heart raced once more. I just hoped I wasn't too late.

* * *

"Rainbow Dash, I've looked into the old Canterlot High School records, lately, and I noticed your personal records are slowly and steadily going to reach mine." Wind Rider spoke with Rainbow Dash as the two were by a cliff.

"Yeah! I am!" She then gasped. "Oh! Are you acknowledging me as your equal? Are you going to have me join the CPD?! Oh man, I'm so excited! You're always the coolest Wondercolt player!" She turned around to see the vast ocean. The sea breeze shifted through her hair as she smiled. That's when the sea breeze began to shift in the opposite direction. "H-huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm afraid it isn't as simple as that…" She turned around to see Wind Rider sport a grin before he transformed into the Tornado Roidmude.

"What the!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Wind Rider prefers that his record isn't stolen by some bratty youth. He would do _anything_ to preserve his precious record… His only reminder of his pathetic wasted life." The Tornado Roidmude said.

"N-no! Wind Rider would never want that! You're just a faker! You don't know how he thinks!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She tried to run down the Roidmude with her wheelchair. However, the Tornado Roidmude created a small current in the shape of a drill with one of his hands.

"Let's see then if he is indeed lying. I'll push you off this cliff. If I feel a surge of power, then I have fulfilled his desire… If not, well… You're _still_ going to be a smear on the ground!" He then fired the current towards Rainbow Dash, blowing her off the chair and off the cliff. As she plummeted to the ground, Tornado's body had a few golden lightning bolts crackle underneath his cyan swirls.

"Hmph… Looks like he wasn't lying." He then laughed. "Finally, I achieved it… Super Evolution!" His entire body erupted into a blast of golden light.

* * *

Ross looked outside as he saw a golden beam erupt from a cliff side. He got out of the bed and limped away. He knew this would be the right time to get away from Cinder Fall.

* * *

I remembered what Rainbow Dash said regarding beating Wind Rider's personal record and knew what he would intend. However, as I got to the Tridoron, I saw a pillar of golden light shine from afar.

" **Another Super Roidmude?** " Banno asked.

"…" I was silent. Inside, I knew it was too late.

The Roidmudes have already got to Rainbow Dash.

* * *

[Author's Note: My apologizes, forgot to insert the lines.]


	2. When Will These Winds Stop?

I stayed inside Soarin's car as I could hear indistinct chattering between Soarin' and Spitfire. I heard a little bit to know they were speaking of Wind Rider and his recent betrayal. I sighed as I remembered Wind Rider's recent attempt at Soarin's life. I looked outside. As the golden light that had emerged from the coast died down, I began to worry for someone else instead.

I worried about Rainbow Dash. The Roidmudes must have gotten to her already. Knowing the lengths they'd go for ultimate power, I could only fear the worst for her. The more I thought about it, the more I thought of her face being shown everywhere. Milk cartons, portraits, memorials, tombstones. Then I imagined the grieving faces of her friends. When I had imagined Fluttershy's face, that's when I knew I couldn't wait around.

As I got out, I saw the destruction I had laid upon the streets thanks to my stunt using Max Flare. Singed concrete laid across the road as cars had crashed into one another. People were unable to get out of their cars either because they were pinned against another car or the cars had toppled over.

The people who _did_ get out were on the ground screaming about their wounded appendages, some even trying to resuscitate and help other critically injured people. An ambulance had arrived to assist in getting the people out. I knew I was responsible for this mess. In my ruthlessness, I caused this incident to happen. But I couldn't stand around to face the consequences.

It seemed I didn't need to call for the Shift Car I needed, as Mad Doctor drove in on a miniature, mid-air highway that kept building as the car drove forward, at least until it was ready to drive off the highway and onto the road. It drove to several of the injured people, shooting digital syringes at them as they injected in. The people soon were able to get up after reacting as if they were shocked by a joy buzzer. Mad Doctor was followed by Fire Braver and Justice Hunter. Braver managed to move away some of the more pinned cars while Justice Hunter blocked off the area with steel jail bars.

I gave a soft smile as Justice Hunter blared a siren towards me. In that moment, I could feel like it had just told me to go on ahead. I pulled out something from my pocket. Much like the SunDriver, it was merely a padlock with a flower molded onto it. Though this time, it was a rose. I popped open the lock as it transformed into a dirt bike. I rode off while hearing Soarin' and Spitfire shout to me. I ignored them.

I had to get to Rainbow Dash. Even if she's dead.

* * *

"Ugh…" Rainbow Dash groaned. While she wasn't properly healed, she felt something broke her fall. But how could that be? Rainbow Dash got up and looked at her surroundings. A nice, simple beach. Nothing could have possibly broke her fall.

Then she remembered her fight with the Nerve Roidmude. How she didn't take that crippling blow to the spine at full force. 'Determination'? That was just something to psyche her up. She didn't realize it was an actual power. Maybe she obtained it when Ross gave her super speed.

 **Caw… Caw…**

Rainbow Dash looked above as she saw a raven flying in the air. She squinted. Were ravens _supposed_ to be that big? As she glared, the bird seemed to come closer and closer… That's when she realized the raven was headed right for her. She dodged out of the way as its talons hit the sand. Rainbow Dash looked at the monstrous raven that had chosen to attack her.

It was weird for a raven to have a bone white mask or orange beedy eyes. Rainbow Dash knew just from the ravenous eyes alone that she has to run. _Now_.

The raven crowed as it flew towards Rainbow Dash. However, Rainbow Dash managed to outrun the raven… at least until she tripped.

"Ow!" Her Super Speed didn't seemed effective to her as it was before. She tried to run some more, but she drooped to her knees. It didn't help that she sprained an ankle. She limped as the bird slowly crawled up to her… And just as it opened its beak to consume her…

 **SLASH!**

Its beak was chopped off, the remains scattering away into petals. That's when Rainbow Dash noticed… They were rose petals.

She saw Ross standing in front of her, his hood bellowing in the wind.

"Ross!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Take my hand! Hurry!" He said as pointed Crescent Rose at the raven and fired. The sniper rounds made decent sized holes into the monster as Rainbow Dash got to Ross. He grabbed her and flew off at blurring speeds, wrapping his hood around them and becoming akin to a red blob surrounded by rose petals.

As it sped away, a small hole opened in the rear as more bullets fired at the raven. With the sheer amount of speed, it became less like a sniper rifle and more like a machine gun or even a turret. So many holes were put into the raven that when the blur was far enough to stop firing, the raven fell onto the ground, its body nearly breaking apart into a combination of whispy shadows and rose petals.

That's when it heard something.

"Hey boss! Look at this!" The raven wiggled a bit to see a robotic creature. Its face looked like that of a fanged cobra and on his chest was a number of 049. No doubt was it born of mankind, but what enticed the bird the most was just how much negative emotions this one robot carried. Even if the robot couldn't show it, the bird, even from far away, could sense it inside.

It got up. The raven had only one chance before it completely faded away. The raven got a running start and dove straight for the Roidmude. The Roidmude screamed and tried to fire at it, but it was too late. For a moment, it seemed like the raven was devouring the Roidmude, but soon, the Roidmude changed into a blur of data. The raven faded away, though its shadows merged with the data. The blur began to grow and expand, until it was the size of the raven.

The blur changed back into the raven, though now, it seemed that the Roidmude was fused to its chest. The Roidmude's limbs and head were missing, but its torso remained, including the chest plate. It began to fly up into the air, only to be pushed back down by wind currents. There was a thin, almost see through aura of gold that reinforced this current.

"Hmph… Interesting…" Tornado said.

* * *

I drove down the street on the Rose Attacker in the middle of the city streets. Fortunately, it was well past the traffic jam hour, so aside from the occasional car, it was an open road.

Or so I thought.

 _ **WHOOSH!**_

Out of nowhere, a red blur speeded past me, knocking me off my bike as the blob slowed down.

"Ouch! Watch it!" I shouted. I turned around and saw Ross with Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, Ross, you're alright!" I said. I then looked to Dash. "And you have Dash too!"

"Yeah…" Ross stayed silent. I knew it had to come up sooner or later.

"Sorry for shooting a car at you." I said.

"No, no, it's alright. You did what you had to do." He said.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, yeah… Alright, let's get the long story outta the way… I was a double agent for the Roidmudes, decided to go take on their head honcho, but he laid my ass on a silver platter, made me his puppet and then had me fight Kelly, then Kelly knocked me out with a large car. Next thing I know, I woke up in the care of a psychopath and I got out of there as soon as I could." Ross said. I eyed the scythe he carried.

"Surprised you found that." I said.

"I remembered where I was defeated. Thankfully no one took Crescent Rose." Ross cuddled the scythe in its inactive form like it was his own child. Both Rainbow and I looked weirdly at this before Ross got back to normal. "S-sorry…" He looked to me. "It's a habit of Ruby's… The person I'm dressed as. As Displaced, we tend to remember their memories as if they're our own and end up repeating their same quirks." He said.

Well, that would explain how I was able to remember Ryoma's past. Not sure if I got to the quirk part though… That's when I remembered.

"Oh, right, Roidmudes!" I went over to the bike, but then I saw Rainbow Dash. She was leaning on Ross' back. "Ross… Rainbow… You guys saw how powerful these Roidmudes are when they get golden colored first hand. I'm not going to let you two get hurt." I said. I turned around and walked to the bike.

"But I can help!" Ross said. Rainbow Dash just frowned.

"You want to help?" I then turned the bike back into a lock and tossed it to him. "Get. Her. Home." I glared to him with the same anger I had towards Sid. Just then, I heard a loud caw. I looked up and saw a giant raven.

"Oh no!" Ross said.

"The hell's that?!" I looked at the body of the raven and was reminded of the werewolf I fought last night.

"A Grimm." Ross said. "They're monsters from another world. I-"

"That's all I need to know. Now go!" I shouted as I turned the ignition and transformed into Gold Drive, arming Banno with the Trailer Cannon. Ross opened up the lock, got on the Rose Attacker, and drove off with Dash in tow. Banno fired at the Grimm.

" **Kelly, take a look at this!** " Banno looked at the chest of the raven. I saw it too.

"It's… A Roidmude!" I said.

" _ **Exactly**_ **. Seems these Roidmudes are able to evolve further with these Grimm. An unforeseen development indeed.** " Banno said.

"Guess we call them Grimmudes…" I said as Banno landed a direct hit on the Grimmude's wing. The raven's feathers began to molt off. They fell onto the ground and stabbed into the concrete. I dodged out of the way as I heard the sound of shattering glass, car alarms, and screaming people all at once. I looked around to see the giant black feathers began to change into humanoid beings… They were exactly like a Bat-Class Roidmude, but now their bodies were pitch black and there seemed to be a purple haze around them.

"Well, add another new discovery!" I said as Banno switched to me. Taking the Steering Sword in hand, I ran over to slash at the Roidmudes. I got in close and noticed their plates had only a single number. Well, not true. It was still their three numbers, but there was a decimal after the first digit. Thus, one of the Roidmudes had 0.13, for instance. Each Roidmude I cut into just faded away as their 'core' burst into a cloud of smoke. I looked up and saw the bird was slightly smaller.

" **And it can apparently divide itself…** " Banno said. Of course, it began to click once I realized what the decimal meant.

"So… Fractal Roidmudes!" I then squeed. "Oh man! Discovering new things is fun!" I said.

" **Look sharp! It's about to get more 'fun'!** " Banno said as I noticed a large gust of wind blow through me, knocking me far away and crashing into a window.

* * *

Ross stopped by the hospital and gently too Rainbow Dash off the bike. There, Rainbow Dash slowly walked over to the doors before she stopped.

"So… That would explain what happened back there with the dealer…" Rainbow Dash said. Ross sighed.

"I'm sorry you got wrapped up in this…" Ross said.

"Don't be! Because of you, I got to be closer to Gold Drive than I ever would have as Mare-Do-Well!" She said.

"Well, glad I did _something_ right…" Ross sighed. "I should have laid low. If I did… Maybe he would have lived…"

"Who would have?" Rainbow Dash.

"An… accomplice. I didn't really know him enough to call him a friend… In fact…" Ross then sat down on the steps of the hospital. "I don't really have a lot of friends. I mean, yeah, I have _online_ friends, but when I'm here… I don't have anyone to rely on, unlike you." Rainbow Dash sat next to him.

"No… I'm on the same boat as you. I don't have many friends myself. I… I _used_ to… But soon, they all betrayed me. Some… Some even think I betrayed _them_ …" Rainbow Dash said. Ross could feel some stings in his heart as he began to remember images of a couple of people that, while he recognized, couldn't piece when exactly those images took place.

One stuck out in particular: a man with gray hair and a matching gray and black jumpsuit putting up his dukes in the middle of what appeared to be a backstage hall. It took Ross a bit to realize that his mind was now skipping to Ruby's memories. Memories of moments he haven't seen yet.

"Mind, don't spoil…" Ross muttered.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, I know exactly how that would feel." Ross said.

"But now with Kelly, I feel like I'm starting over with a new friend… And… Well, being a hero _is_ a bonus." Dash chuckled. Fortunately, Ross' mind rewound itself to something he _does_ remember seeing. A memory of Ruby's first night at Beacon Academy. Particularly, the moment where she made her third friend there: Blake.

" _I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!_ "

Ross hung onto those words ever since he became Displaced, almost like it was a silent command. Ross gripped his hands.

"If there's any advice, maybe you could make some friends here. I know I could-" That's when Rainbow Dash noticed that in Ross' place were rose petals. She could see Ross drive away on the Rose Attacker, though she simply smiled and walked into the hospital.

* * *

As I fell onto the floor of an abandoned building, my transformation cancelled out. I heard gusts of wind blowing towards me. I got up and saw a golden tornado flying down before the winds died down and I was able to see the Roidmude.

As I had suspected, it was the Tornado Roidmude, and just as I feared, his reddish body was now golden, along with the sky blue plates of armor that looked like swirls. However, his shoulder armor had just a slight touch of midnight blue.

"Tornado…" I muttered. Tornado smirked as he transformed into Wind Rider.

"So, I see Thief failed…" Wind Rider spoke. Even though I knew he was still Tornado, I still felt uneasy facing him.

"Y-yes…" I said. "So I presume you synchronized with Wind Rider's hatred towards the youth?"

"Yes. Particularly, his jealousy. His jealousy towards his only accomplishment." He held up his hand as a small ball of air formed in his hands. "And it had worked…" He threw the ball at me, knocking me back with great force. My back hit the wall and created a few cracks as I fell down. "I have now achieved Super Evolution. But before I can take my place in the Promised Number, I shall give the Roidmude King a gift… The destruction of this city!" He held up his arm as I heard the crash of thunder.

The Roidmude King? The only time those words were uttered was in an alternate future where an evil Krim Steinbelt announced his intent to rule the world with an army of Roidmudes. Not sure who this Roidmude King is, though I have a good guess it was the Recreator. Banno, however, had another thing to say:

" **Roidmude King? HAH! Not while I'm around!** **If you weren't informed, Gold Drive is** _ **also**_ **a Super Evolved Roidmude. And I've also taken out four Super Evolved Roidmudes…** " Banno said.

"I'm only counting _one_ , Nerve." I said.

"And I'm counting the kills done by Sigma." Banno said.

"Aaaaah." It was a weird moment of realization. In that moment, it was like me and Banno shared a funny in-joke that only the two of us would get. Almost like true friends. To his credit, his invention, the Sigma Circular, _did_ mortally wound three Super Evolved Roidmudes, but I hardly count them as kills _he_ scored. Nonetheless, I got what he meant. "Wanna make it five?" I asked Banno.

" **If you may.** _ **Start my engine.**_ "

"With pleasure." I turned the Ignition.

" **Henshin!** " We both said. My body changed into Gold Drive as Banno took over. Tornado changed back to his Roidmude form. Banno walked towards the Tornado Roidmude merely created a huge current of wind, though it unfazed Banno. Eventually, he ran towards him to throw a punch. Tornado leaped and soared midair before he landed and roundhouse kicked Banno. However, Banno caught the kick and punched Tornado with a fist of golden energy. It knocked the Roidmude back a little, but not enough. Not as he had hoped.

Tornado then slashed at Banno with wind so rough, it ended up becoming sharp. Banno blocked it with a shield made from pure gold energy, but the shield was easily sliced in half. Tornado ran to Banno and pushed him with the air currents in his fist, knocking him out of the building and back onto the road. I looked up and saw the blackening clouds, followed by clouds that had slight yellow glows in them.

" **This must be Tornado's newfound power. He's creating storm clouds so powerful, that he might just call himself Hurricane…** " Banno said.

"Guess we gotta stop him before he makes this storm hit landfall." He said.

" _ **Exactly**_ **. Give him everything we got!** " With that, Banno turned the ignition and switched over to me.

A Signal Bike and the Zenrin Shooter reached my hands and I instantly plugged in the Signal Bike into the Shift Brace. I fired at several of the storm clouds. As the bullets hit, they changed into large, golden stop signs and froze the clouds in place.

"That ought to hold them." I said. I then saw Tornado jump down and I fired at him. The bullet soon changed from a stop sign to eight separate bullets, all aligned in an octagon before hitting the Tornado Roidmude square in the chest and creating a huge explosion. I expected a Core to come out, but instead, I saw Tornado come through from the smoke, forming a drill from his hand.

I swapped over to Banno who took Rumble Dump and swapped out the Stop Signal Bike with it. Banno's hand changed into a golden version of the drill that Tornado made and punched him just as Tornado threw a punch. The two drills collided and a mixture of golden energy and wind erupted from the drills, knocking both Banno and Tornado away. When Banno finished skidding across the ground he fired the Zenrin Shooter at Tornado, who in turn responded by firing bursts of condensed wind.

Banno dodged out of the way and swapped over to me, giving me Rolling Gravity. I placed it into the Zenrin Shooter.

" **THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE! CRUSH!** "

I slammed the Zenrin Shooter's wheel into the ground as it created a thick line of black and gold energy that rocketed straight towards Tornado. It soon locked him into place, pressing him down with gravity. I swapped over to Banno who gained both another Signal Bike and the Steering Sword. He plugged the Signal Bike into the sword and ran over to Tornado.

" **THE FINISHER! 04! FULL THROTTLE!** "

With a slash, Banno's sword soon glowed golden red as the aura of what appeared to be a Bullet Bill biting down onto Tornado. With a few slashes, it seemed like we were able to destroy the Roidmude, however, that's when the raven from before swooped in and clawed at Banno, knocking him away from Tornado. He swapped over to me and I gained a blue Signal Bike. I swapped out Rumble Dump for the bike and fired at the bird.

The bullet split up into several bullets, each hitting the Grimmude with succession. However, it managed to shrug off the bullets and began to molt feathers, all of which rained down upon me. I got hit by several feathers as a couple of them transformed into Fractal Roidmudes. I readied myself, though I staggered. The Fractal Roidmudes closed in on me, readying their hands to fire upon me.

I maintained balance using the Steering Sword and fired at the Fractal Roidmudes. The ones with lower numbered cores broke apart easily with blasts, while the ones whose cores were higher than 0.25 took more than a hit to fully destroy. This resulted in more Roidmudes being formed than I could destroy. Eventually, I was unable to fire anymore and I waited for them to overwhelm me.

 **VROOOOOOOOOOOM!**

That's when I heard a motorcycle and I turned to see Ross on the Rose Attacker driving up before he popped a wheelie, pushed himself and the bike up with his scythe, and slashed through three Fractal Roidmudes like they were nothing, before landing and using his scythe as a landing gear to turn around. He steered towards the other Roidmudes and fired at them, destroying both bodies and cores in the process.

He used one of the Roidmudes as a ramp to lift the Rose Attacker up and flipped off of his bike, transforming it into its lock mode before landing on the Roidmude, scythe's blade right into it. He then fired, blasting him off the Roidmude and into the air for a bit before he landed into me.

"Thought you could use a hand." Ross said to me.

"Aaaah, I could have handled them." I chuckled.

"You ought to know that Grimm are a huntsman's specialty." Ross said. I turned and saw the Raven Grimmude land onto the ground before it screeched. It was noticeably smaller than it was before.

"The Grimmude's able to create minions, but it gets weaker with every batch." I said.

"Alright, I can take on multiple crowds of monsters. Think you can handle old windbag over there?" Ross asked.

" **You underestimate the power of my system…** " Banno said.

"For once, I'm backing Banno's egotistic claims. Deal with the Grimmude, then we can deal with the Roidmude together." I said.

"Alright. It's about to get wild." Ross bumped my back of my hand with the back of his hand before he rushed to the Roidmude. I did the same, but towards Tornado. I slashed him away with both the Steering Sword and the Zenrin Shooter. He countered by stabbing his drill in between the open space that was my chest. As I was punched back, I swapped to Banno who took the last of the four Signal Bikes.

He plugged both the Turn and Scatter Bikes into the Steering Sword and Zenrin Shooter respectively.

" **TURN! TURN! U-TURN! THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE! 01!** "

" **THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE! SCATTER!** "

Banno began to spin uncontrollably as he fired the Zenrin Shooter. The bullet began to break apart into dozens of golden bullets. Tornado tried to stop them, but Banno reached him and slashed him two dozen times before unloading the last scattering bullet right into Tornado. While the two finishers heavily damaged him, it didn't destroy him. It took a lot from him though, so I looked to see if Ross needed help.

Much to my delight, Ross was cleaving through most of the Fractal Roidmudes with ease, all while the Grimmude got smaller and smaller with each division, now just half the size as it initially was. Ross launched himself with the scythe's fire and sliced into the Grimmude's left wing, cutting it off, before he wrapped himself in his cape, flew in a loop-de-loop, and impaled the scythe right into the Grimmude's head before yanking it and causing it to fly uncontrollably into the building. Ross leaped off as the Grimmude smashed into building, erupting into a cloud of inky smoke, with its Core, 049, fading away.

Ross landed as we turned to face the Tornado Roidmude. Tornado chuckled.

"Now… I'll fulfill our Recreator's wishes!" Tornado twirled his hand in the air as a wind current began to form. The current spun around several times. I could feel just from the force of the wind what could happen.

"Ross! Get out of here! Now!" I shouted. Banno swapped over to me as the circuit wheel flared up. As the tornado that was summoned came down, I created an electromagnetic field surrounding it to prevent it from expanding and destroying any of the buildings.

"No way! I'm sticking with you til the bitter end!" He said.

"Alright… Banno… LET'S GO!" I shouted as I turned the ignition several times. My lens changed from red, to white, to red, until it finally changed to the bull's eye design of Type Overdrive. Me, Banno, and Ross all floated up into the air thanks to all the tension caused by the wind. Tornado entered the fray by encasing himself in a golden air current. The three of us all began to fly.

Ross was the first to fight, wrapping himself up in his cape and seemingly teleporting himself to behind Tornado to slash with his scythe. Tornado blocked with his arm drill, but that was when Banno shot a golden energy lance at him, stabbing the Roidmude in the back. At the same time, Ross fired at Tornado, knocking him into my path where I Rider Punched him with golden energy. While it knocked him back, Tornado soon wrapped himself in the tornado's current and vanished. Banno and I also coated ourselves in energy and vanished.

As Tornado reappeared near Ross, so did I and I kicked him out of the way. Ross wrapped himself up in his cape and the three of us all teleported around in the eye of the storm, trying to guess where the other was and striking when we guessed correct. Ross didn't manage to get a shot in, though I managed to slash at least once at Tornado. Eventually, we teleported at the same time and entered the same space.

Tornado kicked Ross out of the cyclone, with my electromagnetic field only shunting him further from the fray.

"Ross!" I shouted before Tornado smashed me down with a devastating hammer punch. I fell into the ground and created a crater. Tornado flew down towards me.

"This is it, Banno..." I got up and crouched, building up the golden energy into my leg. I just had to wait for the right moment…

* * *

Ross flew out of the cyclone, though he managed to catch himself and land on the roof. He could only look as the cyclone began to glow intensely golden.

"Kelly…" Ross muttered. Just then, the glow intensified. Ross readied himself for any sort of surprise.

Though the surprise he saw was not what he expected.

"TORIYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kelly shouted as she pushed Tornado out of the eye of the storm with her leg thrusted right into the Roidmude's chest. Golden lightning crackled from her foot as she continued to push him up into the air. With her other foot, she kicked him away from herself. Ross took advantage and flew into the air with his Semblance, launching scythe first right into the airborne Roidmude.

Before Tornado had any time to react, Ross impaled him with Crescent Rose, landed on the wall of a building, then ran up to the roof, dragging the Roidmude along before tossing him up into the air and firing right into its head, blowing it off as the body exploded. Rose petals flew out of smoke along with the Core **008**. Ross leaped and landed on the roof, then got ready to fire at the number before it flew off.

White particles overlapped the number as it became healed. It then flew into a phone where its matching number lit. Ross looked as he saw a man with spiked up hair and a black leather jacket with what appeared to be reddish pink patching on the sides of his sleeves and coat on the other end of the roof.

"H-hey!" Ross shouted, but the man paid no attention. He merely scoffed and walked away. Ross ran after him, though he noticed a large grayish curtain appear before the man. He walked through the curtain no problem before it disappeared, taking the man with it. Ross stopped running as Kelly landed on the rooftop.

* * *

After Rider Kicking the Roidmude and destroying him, I landed onto the roof where Ross was. The transformation cancelled out and I became woozy. Ross ran to me and lifted me up.

"We did it… We defeated Tornado…" I said as I gave him a thumbs up.

"… For now." Ross said. I looked to him.

"What do you mean? We destroyed his Core, right?" I asked.

"No. Someone took his Core." Ross said.

" **What!?** " Banno shouted. I, however, was too drained from using two Type Overdrives in one day. I passed out in Ross' arms as Banno shouted to keep me awake.

* * *

The leather coated man walked down as several Roidmudes bowed before him. He approached a weak, skinny man lying in bed, 007.

"Tornado has fallen." The man said.

"What!?" 007 struggled, but he fell before he could get up.

"Patience. You still need to adjust to your synchronization. You haven't even found the core emotion he possess yet." The man said.

"… Grief. It's grief." 007 said. "And losing Tornado… I can say that I'm getting powered up." The man simply laughed.

"It won't be enough. Banno's at full power. If two Super Evolved Roidmudes aren't able to stop him, what makes you think a weak Roidmude like yourself would fare better?" He asked.

"Then let _me_ at them, my lord." The man heard a familiar voice. Tough, boisterous, and strongly feminine. He turned to see his newly appointed Grim Reaper practicing on a punching bag. "Whatever he throws at me, I'll throw back with twice the power." She said.

"You _could_ … But you could also _wait_ …" The man chuckled. "Banno's ties with his host are at their strongest. However, given how Banno is, it won't be long before that tie is severed. It'll be at _that_ moment when you can strike. Until then, we wait. If you really want to take your anger out, there's a Roidmude you could eliminate…" He then walked away.

The Grim Reaper growled and with one punch to the bag, she exploded in a burst of fire, destroying the bag in the process.

"I'll make you pay, Kamen Rider… Just you wait." She glared at the destroyed bag with her bright red eyes.

* * *

I woke up in the hospital bed again, though this time, Applejack was looking at me.

"Hey, Sugarcube." Applejack said.

"A-applejack…" I muttered. I looked around and saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy on opposite sides of the room, their backs turned.

"Just checking to see how you are." Applejack said.

"I'm doing well, all things considered." I said.

"Well, I figured I'd let you know that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and I have made… compromises. We all agreed to help you with these Roy Mochas." Applejack said. I simply chuckled.

"Now you're doing it on purpose." I said.

"Yeah, ya caught me." She smirked. Just then, Principal Celestia entered the room.

"Professor Silverbolt, I'm sorry to butt in on a bad time, but I figured I'd inform you of a transfer student." She said.

"Transfer student! Awesome!" Rainbow Dash squeed. I saw Fluttershy simply retreat herself further into a corner.

"Who is she?" I asked.

" _He_ , and he's said to have transferred from Beacon Academy." She said. She stepped away as I saw a man dressed in a black uniform with orange linings, a blue sweatshirt underneath, a white shirt and a red tie, as well as black pants. I knew this man…

"Yo, teach!" Ross said as he waved to me.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" I shouted. The machine that monitored my heart rate raced.


	3. Where Do We Go From Here?

It took me a while to get adjusted to Ross' announcement of joining Canterlot High. It took me even longer to be able to get up. Most of that was due to going into Type Overdrive twice in one day. From how I could feel myself, I knew that it was a case of my nervous system having an overload thanks to fusing it with Banno's neural network.

I figured I'd get used to it in time, though that would depend greatly on me being able to become cruel. I took the time to read the newspaper. As I had figured, the news of Gold Drive's attack on the streets made the headlines, but to my surprise, they also mentioned his stopping of a large tornado from destroying the city.

I read more into it. Seemed that the newspaper was painting me as a sort of "Hero or Menace" sort of deal. One article praised Gold Drive stopping a group of bank robbers from harming civilians while another said that he _caused_ injuries from occurring. It brought me a bit of comfort, however, that I have people who supported me and considered me their hero.

I got up from the hospital bed and got ready to go back to teaching. That's when I saw Ross standing outside the room in his school uniform. He gave me a salute and I nodded.

* * *

We drove off to someplace where we could carry out a private conversation. The docks was a good idea, I thought. I parked the Tridoron nearby and walked to the edge of the pier along with Ross.

"So, your Roidmude days are over?" I asked. Ross stretched his arms.

"I guess so. Though, I wanna assume the Roidmude days in general are over." Ross said. I frowned and sat down.

"I wish it was that simple." I said. I looked at the ocean. "There's a hundred and eight Roidmudes." Ross sat next to me.

"W-what!? That many?" Ross said. I nodded.

"Yeah. But we cleared up a quarter of them. Another quarter was wiped out in a civil war. If I'm correct, that basically means we're only half way done." I said. I looked at Ross as he looked down at the ocean.

"Well, at least _your_ monsters have a limit… The Grimm? So long as humanity exists, so will they." He said.

"That… brings up a good topic, however. The past couple of days, there have been Roidmudes that have seemingly been fusing with the Grimm." I said.

"Fusing?" Ross asked.

"Yeah. Like, a Roidmude will be stuck to the body of those things. You know what that's all about?" I asked.

"If I may pipe in…" Banno spoke up. "According to the combat data, these Grimm seem animalistic in nature. It's like they seek out these Roidmudes to devour and absorb them for some reason." I paused and added to Banno's theory.

"Perhaps the _Grimm_ aren't the ones doing the absorbing… Ross, can you confirm Banno's suspicions?" I asked him. Ross nodded.

"Yeah. Grimm are pretty instinct-based. They actively hunt down humans and anything of their creations." Ross said. Already, a point in favor of the theory. "They're able to track a human by seeking out stuff like hate, rage, sadness, despa-" I clapped my hands.

"Stop! There we go! They like negative emotions! Banno, I think we found our answer." I said. Banno chuckled.

"Yes… We have…" Banno said.

"I don't follow." Ross said.

"Banno programed the Roidmudes to evolve based off emotions and rarely are they _good_ ones. Humiliation, Envy, Vengeance… The Roidmudes would synchronize with the negative emotion they were given, either through programming or whatever they got from the host, and then emulate it until they evolve." I said.

"Since they can only emulate what they were programed to feel, these Grimm are attracted to them like a moth to a flame." Banno said.

"Then, when the Grimm are attacking, the Roidmudes would synchronize with the negative emotions that these Grimm are seeking and thus…" I said.

"We get those monsters." Ross said.

"Exactly." Banno said. Ross picked up a pebble and tossed it across the ocean.

"… I caused these Grimm to appear." Ross said. At first I had no idea what he meant, but then I remembered what was said yesterday:

" _Each Displaced faces foes from the game, TV show or movie in their own Equestrias._ " I merely looked to the ripples he made. I shook my head.

"No. There's more to it than that. If that was the case, then those Roidmudes would have come when _I_ came. It's not a coincidence, yes, but you're not responsible for them to appear. They came on their own volition." I said.

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"… There's much despair in this town since the Roidmudes attacked. Maybe they found this place to be a good haven for food." I said. I got up and looked to Ross. "So, shall we get going? If we hurry, we'll make it just in time for science class."

Oh, if things were that simple.

 **BLAST!**

A warehouse nearby suddenly caught on fire as a police officer was flung out of it. We ran to him, only to see two Roidmudes hop out of the fires. These were different. The Roidmudes in their low-class forms followed three animal motifs: cobra, spider, or bat. These were different. Their faces were hidden in brown cages and they wore a red, thick cape, almost like the shell of a…

"Cockroach…" I muttered. The scythes they held were confirmation that they are what I thought they are.

"Great! These assholes are stealing my thing!" Ross took out his scythe. I shook my head.

"No… These guys are the Reaper Legion. They have nothing to do with you." This was a bold faced lie. The presence of these Roidmudes _does_ have something to do with Ross. Though it wasn't that they modeled themselves after him. Rather, they were made to replace him, much like how they were originally made to replace Chase.

Which could only mean that much like before, a higher up Roidmude could be leading them…

"Banno… You thinking who I'm thinking?" I asked.

"Only one way to find out… Start my engine." Banno said. I crossed my arms before I pressed them against my wrists, turning them around before pulling one arm back and pushing another one forward. I then pushed my right arm forward, left hand lowered to the ignition as I shouted.

"Henshin!" I shouted as I turned it. I'd squee at the fact that I finally pulled off my first Henshin pose, but Banno immediately took over my body, Steering Sword in hand, and ran off to fight the Roidmudes.

Ross already beat me to them as his scythe cut through the scythe of one of the Roidmudes. He fired with the barrel part of the scythe right into the Reaper's face, breaking his mask as Ross impaled the pointy end of the scythe into the side of its neck. Ross leaped and did a drop kick on the Roidmude, pulling him away from the scythe as sparks began to pour from the stab wound.

Banno slashed away at the Reaper Roidmude before he threw a Rider Punch right into the chest of the Roidmude. It knocked him away. The Roidmude growled as it threw down its cape. Banno turned on the ignition as I took over. Banno's activation of Gold Conversion caused the Tridoron to roll towards me. I opened the door and took out both the Chainsword and the Assault Rifle. Tossing the rifle to Ross, I took the Chainsword in my hand.

"W-What!? No! I wanted you to run them down with the Tridoron!" Banno shouted as I ran forward and gave the Roidmude a cross slash, greatly damaging the Roidmude's torso.

Ross transformed the scythe into a sniper rifle and constantly fired at his opponent with the assault rifle. As soon as the Roidmude took twenty five hits, he headshotted the Reaper Roidmude, causing the Roidmude to fall into the water and break up into rose petals.

I turned the ignition and placed my two swords together.

"THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE!" Banno shouted as he spun around. Golden electricity built up around him as he spun towards the capeless Roidmude, slashing him apart until he was in tiny pieces. With the two swords, he then proceed to cut the Core with the chain sword and then fire a sharp sword slash at the other Core. **044** and **094** both blew up. Ross ran towards the wounded officer as Banno proceeded to the fires inside the warehouse.

"Hey! Wait! This guy's hurt!" Banno didn't care and merely tried to get into the flames. However, the fires overwhelmed his vision and he backed away, cancelling out the transformation in the process.

"There's no way Medic would be in that building…" Banno said to me as I stood by the fire. Though, if I remembered correctly, there'd be no way Medic would be leading these Reapers. Especially after a civil war where Heart's side lost… So who could it have been?

* * *

The Grim Reaper stood in the flames. Banno was easily in front of her. She could easily kill the professor, his puppet, and even the traitor in one… swift… kill.

However, as she moved in, she could see the traitor tending to her mark. She froze. Despite only hearing stories of him, she felt as though she knew him before. She held her head as one voice rang into her head.

" _I love you…_ "

She shook her head. She continued to look at the three as they remained ignorant of her presence. The Roidmude King was right, she thought. Now was _not_ the perfect time to fight them. She walked away, having accomplished her initial goal.

* * *

"Hey! Hang in there!" Ross said to the police officer. However, that's when I noticed he looked familiar.

"Ross… Hang on…" I said. I _knew_ him. This was Michelangelo Jones, otherwise known as the Sculpt Roidmude. I recalled him getting away from my last clash with him. Michelangelo simply sputtered.

"She's coming…" He weakly said. He looked to Ross. "The Dragon… She's coming… To kill… The Reaper… And the Rider…" Michelangelo said before his body gave out. I shoved Ross out of the way before the officer exploded, his core, **084** , floating up before it too was destroyed in an explosion. The two of us just sat on the ground as the smoke cleared.

Firetrucks began to pile in as I helped Ross up. I looked to the ground as I saw Fire Braver rolling out to help stop the fires in the warehouse from spreading. We went into the Tridoron as I dismantled the Rose Attacker back into its lock mode and we drove off.

* * *

About five minutes into the drive, Ross began to speak and break the silence me and him shared.

"… What the hell… Did… Did those Roidmudes murder their own kind?" Ross asked.

"Yeah. That's what happens when they need to replace the Grim Reaper." I said. Ross looked at the dash of the car and frowned.

"That guy… Tachibana reset him to have him help out his department as a cop. Guess the Roidmudes found out and…" Ross sighed.

"Ross… This is a war. Like it or not, it's a war to determine who'll rule the world. Humanity or Roidmudes. Of course there'll be those who want a middle ground and those who will make sure those voices get silenced." I said.

"And then there's what he said! The Dragon? Do you know any dragon Roidmudes?!" Ross asked. I shook my head.

"Roidmudes, in their evolved forms, don't go for animals. Some go for organs, elements, even occupations. Never animals." I said.

"If that… If the dragon can easily kill that Roidmude… then… They might…" I stopped the car and patted Ross on the shoulder.

"Alright, this will be the first homework assignment I'll give you as your teacher, understand?" I asked. Ross nodded. "You are going to take a week off from this hunting crap and you just relax. Got it? Extra credit is that you make a friend in this world." I said. Ross hesitated for a while before nodding.

"Okay… But if that Dragon comes…" Ross muttered.

"I'll deal with it. Don't worry." I said. Ross had a faint smile. That's when I realized something.

"Hey, Ross, you got a place to stay?" I asked. Ross shook his head.

"Well, I'm able to go home, but I need my token…" Ross said. The word struck some familiarity.

"A token… Yeah, you know where it is?" I asked him.

"… Inside Nerve's building." Ross got out of the car and smiled to me. "Don't worry, I'll be able to grab it, no problem." With that, Ross flew off.

"H-hey! Come back here! You still have to go to school!" I shouted to him. I groaned and drove off as soon as I knew Ross wouldn't listen.

* * *

I went back to CHS and walked into the halls. There, I bumped into someone.

"Oof!" As I fell to the ground, I heard some clattering on the ground. When I got up, I saw Fluttershy was the one I bumped into.

"O-oh… Sorry…" Fluttershy went over to pick up something… A crown. The crown had a magenta jewel embedded in the top modelled after a star, with what appeared to be sapphires lined up on the rim of the crown made of solid gold.

"What… is that?" I asked.

"I-it's the crown for the Fall Formal. Every year we have a Fall Formal… And this crown goes to the Princess." Fluttershy said.

"So… Prom, basically." I said. Fluttershy nodded. I stared at the crown. Usually, for high schools and prom, they would just cheap out and buy a plastic crown. Here? This crown looked as though it was stolen from a kingdom far away.

"I found it on the ground near the statue, I was going to return it to Principal Celestia." Fluttershy said.

"Well, I can give it to her for you. I mean, you have to get to class, right?" I asked. Fluttershy nodded.

"O-okay…" She handed me the crown. She then paused for a moment before wiping away a tear and muttered out a thanks before rushing off. I sighed, then looked at the crown.

* * *

I went into the staff's bathroom as I turned the ignition twice. As much as I enjoyed using Banno plus Shift Technic to constantly scan for stuff, I felt as though I was seeing Banno as a mundane utility rather than as…

I shuddered as I thought of him as anything more than a partner.

I transformed into Gold Drive with the Shift Technic car plugged into the Shift Brace. I scanned the crown.

"Bingo." I said as I saw an aura form around the crown. It wasn't like Ross' Aura, however. Rather than it looking like a fire, it was instead rounded and flowed almost like water. There was a magenta hue surrounding the crown. However, the bubble that surrounded the crown soon began to go up in flames. "The hell!?" Now it became the shape of Ross' Aura, an orange flame, though instead of a red flame.

I muttered. That's when I heard the door open. I cancelled my transformation and turned around. "Principal Celestia!" I said.

"Ah, Professor, you found the crown! Perfect! I thought we'd have to cancel the Fall Formal without it." Celestia approached me.

"Celestia, this crown isn't meant to be a decoration." I told her. She shook her head.

"Of course it isn't. It symbolizes how thankful we are for the friends and family we have." She said.

"No, I mean that this crown has crazy magic coming from it. Something obviously isn't right. Allow me to analyze and study this so that we know for sure what exactly it is." I said.

"That won't be necessary." Celestia went over and grabbed the crown from me. "This has been Canterlot High tradition for fifteen years, and in those fifteen years, I have not once had a mishap with this crown." She held the expensive treasure by dangling it by one of the ends like a cheap dollar store toy. "You don't have to worry about it…" She said as she left the room. I gritted my teeth.

How could that _idiot_ steal a powerful artifact from right under my nose? That thing could be a freaking nuke and she just views it as some goddamned beauty queen accessory! I began to seethe so much anger that I began to remember something.

It was another one of Ryoma's memories. This time, he was visiting a bed ridden Takatora. Instantly, I knew this memory. As it played out, I began to figure out why this memory was triggered, especially after Takatora brushed off Ryoma's desires to achieve godhood. After that, Ryoma began to go behind Takatora's back. I realized just what I was now thinking.

I was considering betraying Celestia.

* * *

Ross entered the office of the former Nerve Roidmude and looked around.

"Has to be here somewhere…" He muttered. He went over to the desk and pulled out one of the drawers. "Perfect!" Ross took out the silver necklace and held onto it.

" _This kindly I…_ " But he stopped. He looked at the silver necklace and thought back to his time with Tachibana.

" _I didn't really know him enough to call him a friend. I don't really have a lot of friends. I don't have anyone to rely on._ "

Remembering the words he said to Rainbow Dash, Ross instead placed the necklace over his neck and headed off.

* * *

 **KNOCK KNOCK**

Ross had his fingernails dig into his palms as the door opened.

"Oh! There you are! You gave me quite a scare." Ross had to acknowledge that, while she _did_ look like Cinder Fall, there's a good chance she _isn't_ actually her.

"Hey… Erm… Is your daughter here?" Ross asked her.

"As a matter of fact… Sunset!" She called for her. As Sunset approached Ross, time seemed to slow down for him. She was exactly like the angel he saw when he was on the streets. Ross smiled.

"So, you must be the person who saved me…" Ross said to her. Sunset rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." She said. Ross then grabbed her hand, much to her surprise.

"Thank you. You don't know how much it meant to me…" Ross frowned for a bit, but then he smiled. He knelt before her. "I am in your debt." Ross was determined to make a friend. Sunset just smirked.

She just found herself a new pawn.


	4. What Lies In The Professor's Past?

I continued my pondering of whether or not to go behind Celestia's back and steal the crown from under her nose.

On one hand, the crown is a very powerful weapon and the sooner it's under lock and key, the better.

On the other hand, I worried about becoming a villain in the process. I still reeled over what happened yesterday with the traffic accident.

Suddenly, I heard a scream. Good, I thought. I'd take some anger out on the Roidmudes... That's _usually_ what people tend to scream at, right? Monster attacks?

* * *

I ran outside the school grounds to confront the Roidmude... Only to see no one there...

Well, except for a purple skinned girl in a light blue shirt and a purple skirt running towards me on all fours... Wait what?

"Uh, Banno? The fuck kind of Roidmude did _this_ to someone?" I asked.

" **I don't know! You should** _ **start my engine**_ **anyways!** " Banno said. I got ready to fight... Only for her to stop.

"Yeah, I don't think that's how the new you is supposed to..." A purple dog with green tufts of hair spoke up as the girl sprang up. Wait... Did the dog just... talk!? The girl then began to wobble on her legs, almost losing balance. I rolled my eyes, groaned, and walked over to help her up.

"Alright, what the hell's going on?" I asked her.

"A-ah! Um... I... Erm..." The girl began to stammer. I merely shifted my glare towards the dog.

"You. What's going on?" I asked the dog.

"Well... Erm... How do I best put it lightly... Well, you see..." The dog also began to stammer. I recalled back to when I met the Space Marine and the Spartan.

"You guys from Equestria too?" I asked. As if I had blown their minds, the girl and dog both shut up and nodded their heads rapidly.

"W-wait... _Too_? You mean there's _others_ here?" She asked me. She then struggled to stand up, holding her hands against the railing by the stairs. "Did you see someone with red and yellow hair?" She asked. I blinked.

There was only one person I know who had yellow and red hair...

* * *

Sunset Shimmer entered the garage where she unveiled an orange dirt bike with a blood red engine embedded right into the hull.

"Woaaah..." Ross stood next to her.

"Hop on. You're a student at CHS, right?" She asked him.

"Y-yeah... But..." Ross then took out the Rose Attacker and unfolded it into its own dirt bike mode. "I got my own ride." Ross asked.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about." Sunset Shimmer smirked as she got on her bike. She then put on her helmet. "Try to keep up, alright?" She asked. Ross nodded as the two rode off.

* * *

"I see..." I said. In the span of five minutes outside the school ground, I managed to learn a lot more about Sunset Shimmer than I could ever do in a nightly binging of her MyStable posts.

As it turned out, Sunset Shimmer was originally from Equestria as a former pupil of a princess by the name of Celestia. She had come back to Equestria and failed in stealing the Element of Magic. I figured I'd tell her what _I_ knew about it.

"So, basically the thing _my_ Celestia is touting as some sort of cheap trinket." I said.

"Yeah. It's... Wait, what!?" The girl shouted, though I barely flinched.

"Apparently, that's what it's been all this time. Some sort of stupid prom night crown waiting to be bathed in pig's blood." I said. Her eyes widened and backed away.

"N-nonononononono!" She said.

"Well, you and I have a pretty common goal then. I want that trinket out of here, you want it back at Equestria." I said.

"Y-yeah." She said.

"So, why not just steal it back?" I said.

"W-what!? Are you crazy? I may want the crown back, but I'm not gonna stoop to Sunset's lows!" She said. As she said that, I froze. What the hell did I just say?

Steal it? I casually said that right to her face. I looked down at the belt. The more I'm with Banno... The more I'm dressed up as Ryoma... The more willing I am to commit a sin. Won't be long now before I actually practice what I preach. I nodded.

"Of course. Sorry about that. It was just a suggestion." I said.

"It better be." She muttered.

"I guess we have a common enemy too. I've been on Sunset Shimmer's case since a couple of days ago. Had her on the ropes too. I'd be happy to help you out with this. Name's Kel... Professor Silverbolt..." I said.

"Twilight Sparkle." She said. I recognized the name from the MyStable group petitioning Silverbolt's return to Crystal Prep. However, this Twilight lacked glasses and wore her hair straight. The fact that she didn't stutter from Silverbolt's name or even recognized my appearance is enough of an indicator that Silverbolt's counterpart in Equestria hasn't met her.

Speaking of...

"So... Equestria. I'm guessing horses are a major thing in your world?" I asked.

"Erm... Yes, but the term you're looking for is _Ponies..._ " Twilight said. I froze. "Professor?" Twilight waved to me, though I couldn't respond.

"Come on, Twi! We might be able to find the Element in here!" The dog then got up and pushed the door open. Twilight got up and followed him. Meanwhile I just sat there, leaving only the ringing bell to snap me out of it.

" **What the hell was that?** " Banno asked.

"... Ponies... Why did it have to be Ponies?" I asked. Somewhere in 2010, someone had the right idea to remake a show in the seventies called My Little Pony. What would have been a moderate show for little girls turned into an internet monstrosity that infected the entire web. Not even Henshin Justice, a forum I frequented, was immune to the pastel colored cat-like beings.

It slowly made sense now that I had thought of it. I remembered a cyan colored Pony with rainbow colored hair... Almost exactly like Rainbow Dash. Pieces began to click in and as they did, I began to growl.

"I _haaaate_ ponies..." I said. Thankfully, I had a phone call break my concentration.

" _Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill Nyyyye, the Science Guy... BILL! BILL! BILL! BI_ -" I then pressed answer.

"Hello?" I asked.

" _Heeeeey!_ " I knew the voice and I got up, looking around for Niko. " _So, you just met Twilight, huh?_ " He asked.

"How do you know her!?" I shouted.

" _... Let's just say I've seen many iterations of this universe to know right down to the point where people come and go._ " Niko said.

"You..." I growled.

" _The true enemy you want to fight isn't Sunset Shimmer. No. It's someone else._ " Niko said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

" _I think it's time to give you some answers. Head over to the following address. You'll soon realize what answers you're looking for._ " With that, Niko hanged up and a second later, I got a text. I pulled it out and read the text: '108 Somerset Street'. I sighed and got to the Tridoron. Seemed I have some snooping to do.

* * *

Ross and Sunset stopped at the parking lot of Canterlot High. Ross could see the Tridoron pull away and drive off. He then turned to Sunset.

"So, you come to CHS too?" Ross asked.

"Yes, I do." Sunset Shimmer said.

"Cool! I just transferred here yesterday! Principal Celestia insisted I come here as per the Headmaster's recommendation." Ross said.

"The Headmaster?" Sunset Shimmer had only heard of him in passing. A man who runs the Academia School Board, a board pertaining to four schools, each with a different learning curve. Canterlot High was just one of the four, as was Crystal Prep. What made Sunset raise her eyebrow was the Headmaster's insistence for Ross to be placed in high school. If you got a recommendation from the Headmaster of all people, it would be for a school more prestigious than, say, high school.

"Yeah. Not sure who he is though." Ross shrugged and walked into the school. "So, what classes do you take? I have PE, Science, Math, and then Music to end things off at. You?" He asked.

"Mostly the same. Though I have Computer Art instead of Music." Sunset Shimmer said.

"Ah, so how good are you at it?" He asked.

"Erm... I'm still getting used to things." Sunset bit her lip. This Ross person was being _way_ too nice for her. She couldn't act like herself around him and still expect to be her personal slave. She sighed, then patted Ross on the back. "Hey, speaking of, PE's gonna start soon. You should go get ready." Sunset Shimmer said to Ross.

"Okay. See ya later, Sunny!" Ross then ran off at a blurring speed. Sunset Shimmer blinked. Well, that's _one_ way to get rid of him. Sunset Shimmer can now begin her search to where the Element of Magic went. Her eyes went to a girl with long pink hair tending to her locker.

Perhaps she knows just where to look.

* * *

I parked the Tridoron outside of a burnt out shack in the middle of a desolated urban neighbourhood. I got out of the Tridoron and walked towards the door. I looked at the text, then compared the numbers on the door. I reached my hand over to the doorknob and opened it.

I hacked up a nasty cough upon inhaling the dust bunnies that had built up inside the shack. There was so much dust that I had to transform in order to get a better breathing space. I turned the ignition twice, enabling me to get Shift Technic. Plugging it in, I looked around to see anything of importance. That's when I noticed a computer in front of me, sitting on a mahogany desk with a black swivel chair on it.

It seemed off. I walked closer and pressed on the power button in the monitor. After I heard the computer hum to life, I heard a very familiar tone.

 **DUUUUUUUUUUUUN!**

This tone was most definitely the old Macintosh computer tone. The BIOS phase of the start-up went by pretty quickly, for a Mac, before it landed me on the desktop. What unnerved me was that the GUI was basically the same as a newer Mac, with a lack of a taskbar and rather a series of icons. On the desktop was just a folder labeled 'Entry Logs'. I clicked on it.

The window that opened blew me away. The files that were in there were in the hundreds. I clicked on one file and looked at its stats. It was well over thirty minutes with about half a gigabyte of data. Out of curiosity, I clicked and dragged a box around all of them. A chunk of twenty six videos totalled to about nine hours and clocked in at 14 gigabytes.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the first one, titled "Oct-10-2010, Mere Potions". It opened up a media file. It was a broadcast of two kids over a bubbling beaker. One of the kids announced and welcomed the viewer to a show called _Popular Science for Kids. This was the show that Soarin' told me about. I let the show play as I cracked open some windows, just to get the dust out as I cancelled the transformation._

 _The show was alright, just showing the kids doing experiments related to baking soda and how awesome it is. It wasn't until after a brief, animated sketch about a bald man and his dog getting into comical hijinks as a deep voiced narrator talked about baking soda's many facts and details that I was glued to the screen._

Here, they introduced a new character for the show, announcing him to be a professor from Crystal Prep Academy, Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt. He was standing in a pastel colored lab with overblown chalkboards saying ridiculous stuff like "2 + 2 = Fun!"

"Greetings!" His voice was eerily similar to Ryoma's, and while he was dressed like him and even had the same hair as him, his face did not match his. It was blockier than Ryoma's. He had a smile stretched across his face and spoke in a very happy tone. "I'm sure you guys are curious to know what kind of wacky potions Old Starswirl left behind when he left the show, well, allow me to show you!" He then took out two glass bottles holding oddly colored liquids. One contained green liquid while another one contained purple liquid.

"These are special identity changing potions! Watch and learn!" He took the green bottle and flicked some liquid over his arm. "Woah! Look at that! My skin changed color!" It was clearly just paint sprayed onto his hand to make it look like his silver skin was now green. "The properties of this are also the properties found in paint, but with an added ingredient: Dihydrogen Monoxide!" He said as a dramatic sting punctuated it, as if H2O was the deadliest chemical in all of Earth.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I said out loud. I then stopped the video, only for the video to black out. "Wait, what?" I then pressed play again and the video came back up, now showing Silverbolt without his smile, hands on the table, and glaring at the camera. The lab he was in was also changed. It was now a muted brown with a desk that I found spookily familiar.

"If you had managed to stop the episode around my part, it can either mean one of three things. One, you're an idiot who came across this, two, you're _me_ , or three, my clients who have hired me. If you're the former, please stop this video now and kindly leave the house before I find out who you are. If you're the latter two, then you have got the right guy.

My name is Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt. Formerly, I was known as Professor Argent Silverbolt, but circumstances have left me to live in this world under a new identity, as instructed by you, the client. I have observed the area and this makes for a great testing bed for experimenting the products you fund. I'll also showcase you potential ventures for you to invest in, if the need arises. For now, let this be a preview of what's to come." Professor Silverbolt then took out a red crystal and held it in between his hands.

"This, is Dust. You requested me to show you a piece of my world, and here it is. Now, you may be wondering, why do I have a silly little diamond? What does this diamond do? How much is it worth? Well, to answer those questions, this diamond contains a powerful energy that is given the poetic moniker of Nature's Wrath. It can do many things, but we mainly use it as fuel." He took out a pistol and loaded in the crystal like a magazine. He then cocked the gun. "How so? Like this!"

He then flicked the gun as two large, flaming blades popped out of it. He held it up as he fired a couple of flaming bullets. "This is worth the entire world to us and unfortunately, it's a finite source. Though, if your many worlds theory proves true, it won't _have_ to be... Silverbolt, out." With that, the screen blacked out and the words 'END TRANSMISSION' showed up.

I closed out of it. Clients? Dust? Already there's some more questions here. Out of curiosity, I scrolled down to the last video in the folder. It didn't have a date like the others, but I saw its creation date being on August 28th, 2015. Exactly one month prior to me being Displaced. I clicked on the file. It didn't have a show with two kids like the other one, but the location was vastly different. It was out onto what seemed to be old streets, like a medieval European town.

The camera I saw was shaking as I heard tons of panting.

"Get this on camera!" Silverbolt barked as I could hear people screaming and the sound of crushed buildings.

"W-we can't! They'll see us!" The cameraman shouted.

"JUST GET THEM ON CAMERA! WE NEED TO SEE WHAT KIND OF FIRE WE'RE PLAYING WITH!" Silverbolt shouted. The camera tried to turn, but the cameraman suddenly tripped over something. The camera was now on the ground, filming the brown dirt with what appeared to be a bit of red. I heard someone, the cameraman, off-screen.

"Wh-what did I trip ov... OH GOD!" This was soon followed by retching noises as the camera was picked up by another person.

"Come on! We gotta go!" He said. Soon, there was more running. I hit fast forward, skipping a part where they went into a building and ran upstairs to a higher ground, until I stopped at a scene where they were catching their breath inside of a building. Silverbolt had stepped in front of the camera and counted up the people. When he counted to four, he muttered out a 'Shit'.

"We lost one!" He said. There was a bit of panic before Silverbolt went over and took the camera away from the holder. "Give me that!" He shouted. As he looked through the camera, he went to a window and tried to catch some footage of something going on outside. As he did, something crashed right into the window.

"HOLY SHIT!" One of them shouted as the camera was knocked out of Silverbolt's hand from the shockwave. There was a bit of silence before I heard some screaming and someone shouting "MOTHER OF FUCK!" before the camera began to jostle around and got picked up. I only saw a brief blur of what appeared to be a huge face, but I presumed that it was just because of how close the camera was when it was picked up.

There was more running. I hit fast forward as it skimmed past a couple of clips, such as them getting into a building that a blonde haired teenage girl was hiding in to eventually the camera being dropped one too many, beginning to actually skip itself.

When the footage wasn't busy messing up, it finally focused on Professor Silverbolt, in a tattered labcoat and a bleeding forehead.

"We're the only two left, huh?" He asked the cameraman. The camera shook up and down before it froze for a bit. When it resumed, Silverbolt was already in a speech about something.

"-damn monsters! You think you can control them? You can't! We lost four scouts right now! These are too dangerous for humanity to have!" Silverbolt shouted.

"Professor... We were told that _you_ requested the expedition into this world..." The person said.

"... No. I was under the assumption that your Foundation wanted these monstrosities." Silverbolt said. It took a moment for him to realize something. "Damn it... He set us up, didn't he!? Damn you... Damn you-" Before he could say anything else, a giant hand crashed through the roof and grabbed Silverbolt. The debris that fell crushed the cameraman, from what I could tell from the sound of rock smashing flesh. Silverbolt gave off a loud, uncharacteristic scream before it was abruptly cut with a sickening crunch.

I could only assume what ate him was whatever that giant hand was. I froze for a moment, watching the camera on the ground yet again. Then the camera was picked up and turned to face its new holder. As I saw his face, I immediately filled myself with rage, especially with a comment made directly towards the camera, as if it was towards me:

"Welcome, to the _true man's_ world..." Niko Zoloto said. The footage then cut off. I heard someone close the door behind me and I spun around, seeing Niko.

I had no hesitation for what I did next.

"Henshin!" I shouted.

* * *

Ross had just finished putting on his gym shirt. He sighed as he put his cape away into his locker. While he _would_ want to wear it to gym, he _does_ acknowledge that he'd be able to trip up with it, as the memories of Ruby getting her cape caught on a Nevermore's feathers had showed him.

And yet, why did he feel so obsessed with wearing it? At first, it just seemed to be his own insistence that he complete the Ruby Rose cosplay, but over time, it became more and more apparent that he _adored_ the cape. Perhaps as much as Ruby did. Ross sighed. He could feel like he could become Ruby at any minute.

He walked to the school halls before he heard someone.

"I can speak to anyone any way I want." It can't be... That was Sunset's voice. But... He never heard her with that tone of voice before. It sounded so... aggressive. Ross gulped before he saw Sunset Shimmer turn the corner and saw him. "Oh, hey, Ross!" And like that, her tone switched. "Sorry about that, I was just talking to someone, so I'm gonna have to take a while with the gym clothes. You go on ahead, okay?" She said, not letting Ross answer before she went to her locker.

Ross simply watched her leave. Was there another side to her that he just can't see? His hands trembled as he uncontrollably shed a few tears. He had felt this before... No. That's not it. He remembered how, in the second volume, the villains ended up being false friends to Ruby Rose. Guessing from what the vision he had when he was talking with Rainbow, he was safe to say that the façade didn't last long.

No. The doubt that Sunset Shimmer was actually a true friend was definitely something that _Ruby_ had felt before.

* * *

As soon as I was right in his face, I fired the Door Gun at Zoloto's face, though he used his hook shots to skid away while he shot two bullets into my chest. My armor took most of it, but it still felt like I had been punched in the gut by a potato. Banno laughed.

" **Yes! Let the hate flow through you! Tag out, perhaps we can go into Overdrive and take him out!** " For once, I decided to do what Banno instructed and I turned the ignition. My body became Banno's as he ran, with the Zenrin Shooter in his other hand. He fired the two at Niko. He sidestepped the bullets while he swapped out the smoking barrels with some spares he had strapped to his thighs.

"Perfect! Good! This is _exactly_ how I expected you to be!" Niko chuckled as he soon fired some of the hook shots towards Banno, impaling him right on the waist. "But, I'm gonna need you to calm down." He said.

"Like hell I will! You're the one who set up Professor Silverbolt to die, didn't you!?" I asked him. Niko smirked and tilted his hat.

"See, this is why I need you to calm. Anger's good... but it also blinds you." He reeled in the hooks, pulling Banno in as he pointed his two guns to Banno's head, or at least the area where his head will be pulled to. At this time, Banno switched out to me as I grabbed the Steering Sword. I cut myself loose from the strings, leaped up and turned the wheel three times.

 **TURN! TURN! U-TURN!**

I spun around with the sword as I descended upon the cowboy wannabe. Niko simply fell to the ground and fired at me, knocking me off and blasting the sword out of my hands. Niko then grabbed it and as soon as I landed, he crouched and leaned the sword against his shoulder. I got up and saw him...

Was he charging something? I turned the ignition and hit the button on my Shift Brace.

" **THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE!** " Banno shouted as I ran towards him, my fist glowing gold. As I threw the punch, I almost expected to hit him.

That's when I felt a sharp blade pierce at my stomach. I backed away, holding the wound. Niko twirled the sword around before planting it on the ground. I keeled over as my transformation cancelled.

"And they say video games don't teach you anything." He chuckled as he walked closer to me. "Rule number one about being a Displaced. _Never_ pick a fight with your Displacer. It's just... messy." He then patted me on the head before going to the console. "To answer your question, _no_. I didn't tip off Silverbolt. Someone else did." He said.

"Heh... So what the hell was with that true man's world bullshit?" I asked.

"That? Well, it's more of a cautionary warning to people like him. People who think they're beyond the worlds they're tied to." He said.

"Beyond the worlds?" I asked before I grunted in pain.

"I'm sure by now you found out where Equestria is in the multiverse." He said.

"Y-yeah... Why did you stick me into some girly show?" I asked.

"Well, _that_ is what I'm about to show you." Niko then clicked on a video and did the same trick I did to summon the Silverbolt message. The clip showed a battered and beaten Silverbolt, leaning against a chair.

"You were right..." Silverbolt let out a cough. "They were strong and they tried to stop me." He then leaned into the camera. "But don't worry. I stopped them... However, not all of the product survived." The way he said it made be widen my eyes. I shook my head. No. He couldn't have meant... And as I thought of it, he turned the camera to show my fears confirmed.

It was a Spider-Type Roidmude. The number on its plate was **108**. It seemed dormant, especially when Silverbolt stroked the skull-like forehead of the Roidmude.

"But the ones that did have become _stronger_. I did it... I brought back Banno's work. Just like you asked." He said.

" **No! It can't be!** " Banno shouted.

"In exchange for his inventions, I'll give you the genius behind them." Silverbolt then held up the black Banno Driver and laid it on the table. "This Driver contains his data and memories, as well as his personality. Consider this a... backup drive of sorts. I recommend _against_ using him as a Driver, but if you're eager to, I have made modifications to the belt to mitigate the damage he does. See, I am unable to invent a means to contain him in the belt without him taking over the user, but I have been able to limit his time transformed, as well as invent a means to switch over to the user if he ever gets the idea to use his powers against you. In short, you now have one of the most deadly professors on a leash." He smirked.

" **YOU BASTARD!** " Banno shouted as I could feel the belt rumble on my waist.

"As for what I'll do with these inventions of his? Well, I'll be using them to experiment with this world. I am really looking forward to their ability to replicate human appearances, right down to their personalities and core emotions. Perhaps I'll even find a means to earn my happy ending. Hope you enjoy your gift, Foundation X. Silverbolt, out." With that, the video ended.

"Now you see why I recruited you?" Niko asked.

"... You got the belt? How?" I turned around and asked.

"I hate to say it, but it was a coincidence that I came across the belt during a travel of mine. Along with that belt, I came across my client." Niko said.

" **Foundation X?** " Banno asked.

"No. Someone else. She wouldn't give me her identity, but don't worry. She's on the Kamen Riders' side." He said. That's when I realized something.

"Wait, the Riders... is that who he stopped?" I asked him.

"I guess so. According to the woman, the Riders were all scattered across the multiverse after the battle. Not dead, but rather..."

"Displaced." I replied.

"Exactly! So now I must bear the duty of giving out belts to people in the hopes that they become the Riders who will stop these Roidmudes." Niko said.

"..." I looked away from Niko and pouted.

"I understand you don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me either." He laughed. "But now you know what side I'm on." I couldn't help but agree with that. I turned around. "I kept a close eye on Silverbolt after the incident. Believe me when I say I'll help you when you need it." With that, he patted me on the shoulder then walked off. "I'll start by cleaning up this place a bit. Think of it as your headquarters. It also has a nice living space..." He said before he flew off with his hook shots. I sighed before I looked at the time. 10:30 AM.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late for Science class!" I shouted as I ran out and got into the Tridoron.

* * *

I managed to get back to CHS in time for me to deliver the day's science lesson. However, I _did_ realize that, at some point, I might need a teacher to fill in for me if I were to ever do this digging around again.

As I was going to the cafeteria for lunch, I bumped into Twilight Sparkle.

"Ooh!" I said.

"Oh, Professor, how are you?" Hearing myself be called Professor after I had found out that Silverbolt was the Recreator made me shudder.

"I'm... fine." I said.

"Well, I found out how to get the crown back." Twilight said.

"Oh good! ... Erm... how?" I asked.

"I'm going to run for the Princess of the Fall Formal!" Twilight said.

"... What?" I asked in the flattest tone I can use.

* * *

Ross went to the cafeteria with Sunset Shimmer. The two ordered pretty much the same food and sat on a table, seated parallel to each other. Sunset Shimmer smirked. She knew exactly how Ross could help her out.

"Ross..." Sunset held Ross' hand. Ross felt a bit of a spark on his back as her warm hand touched his. "There's something I need some help with..." Sunset Shimmer knew there'd be competition for the Fall Formal. There usually is going to be a dumb schmuck who thinks they could outclass Sunset. First it was Rarity, then it was Trixie, it's soon going to be someone else. She couldn't rely on two dummies like Snips and Snails _all_ the time and she needed someone more... gullible.

Ross, meanwhile, looked into Sunset's eyes. For a moment, her shimmering blue eyes soon changed to a fiery orange, at least in his mind.

" _I can speak to anyone any way I want._ "

He couldn't get that out of his head. How could someone as nice as Sunset say something in such a cold tone?

"Sure, what is it?" Ross asked.

"Can you help me win the Princess the Fall Formal award?" She smiled. As she did, Ross' entire body jumped. Sunset's eyes widened as she backed a bit. "I-is something okay?" She asked. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't want this kid to freak out and be a useless tool for her ambition.

"I-it's fine. Yeah, I'll... I'll help." Ross said. He wanted to say no and confront her on what he heard, but despite every sense in his body screaming no, he chose to agree. Ross' upper arm muscles trembled as he recalled the image he just had in his head. It was brief, but it was short enough to make him jump.

It was the image of an arrow piercing into someone's heart.


	5. What Power Is Stronger Than Banno's?

"Twilight, let me get this straight…" It was the first time I had to sit with students at lunch time. Seeing all the students split up into their own cliques makes me ponder if Sunset Shimmer ever considered forming the Plastics. And also made me groan that even here, they followed this high school clique cliché.

"Instead of doing the simple thing and taking the crown, you're gonna convince a bunch of students who, from what I know, are gripped in fear by this queen bee twat to vote for _you_ instead… in the span of two days. _How_ is just one of many questions I have for you." I said.

"I'm just gonna tell everybody that I'm benevolent. That'll help tip the odds in my favor." Twilight said. I groaned as we headed to the gymnasium where the Fall Formal was being set up. That's when Twilight got her face smacked by a balloon.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" Pinkie Pie said.

"That's alright… I- Pinkie Pie?" She asked. Pinkie Pie then gasped.

"How did you know!? Are you psychic!?" She asked. I patted Twilight.

"Hang on one sec." I then walked to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, do you know someone by the name of Sebaste?" I asked.

"Sebastian? Yeah! Everyone knows him from Baby Nemo! He makes learning fun through his Jamaican music!" She said. There was a brief pause before she spoke up. "N-not that I watch him or anything… I only watch it when I babysit the Cakes…" She said.

"Okay." I said. Must be another Pinkie Pie they were talking about. It was perhaps a good thing that Twilight came over here and explained the situation of other worlds. Otherwise I'd probably have my mind scrambled. Twilight then stepped forward and asked Pinkie to sign up for the Fall Formal. Applejack then walked in. It was almost a welcome sight to see one of my allies back from the hospital as good as new.

"Whooee, glad to be back at school…" Applejack said. I can't help but crack a smile. She then patted me on the back. "Sup, Kel? Any killer robot attacks as of late?" She asked.

"Nah, nothing much, just guiding this new student through school." I said. Applejack then looked at Twilight.

"Ah, the girl who gave Sunset a run for her money. Yeah, people are talking about how she stood up to her. Good to see someone knock her down a peg." She said.

"Yep, and apparently she's gonna try and take out Shimmer at the Fall Formal!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Wait, what!?" Applejack exclaimed. "Okay, sugarcube, hold the hell up…" Applejack then went to Twilight Sparkle. "Sunset Shimmer's a total-"

"Jerk, I know. I saw her teasing Fluttershy earlier today." She said.

"Well good for her! That Fluttershy's a total meanie!" Pinkie Pie said.

"What?" Twilight asked. I shared her exact thought. From what I knew of her from Tachibana and my own personal observations, Fluttershy was _not_ bitch material. In fact, she was quite the opposite.

"I'm gonna vouch for my cousin here, Fluttershy has her bitchy moments." Applejack said. Wait, cousin?! I took one look at Applejack, then at Pinkie Pie… How the hell were these two related?! It seemed Twilight was also stunned, telling from her wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"But Fluttershy's so nice!" Twilight said.

"Nuh-uh! That's _totally_ a façade!" Pinkie Pie said. I had considered that for a moment. I nodded a bit. That's perhaps the only explanation I could get for Fluttershy's reputation.

"In fact, the only person less trustworthy than her _and_ Sunset Shimmer combined is Rainbow Dash." Applejack said.

"No…" Twilight muttered out. The way she voiced that little no just made me shudder. That was the no of a person who had just been betrayed. That's when I began to remember when I interrogated Sunset over Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's splitting up. I felt my brain beginning to click, like I had just put my car's engine from a gear 1 to a gear 3. I smirked.

"Fancy seeing you here, Sunset Shimmer." I said right after the doors slammed open.

"Oh, hello…" Sunset Shimmer then looked around. "All this… for my coronation? This is bad comedy!" Sunset said. "There should be more streamers and less balloons!" Sunset Shimmer said.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it might just not be _your_ coronation. It could be Twilight's." I said. I walked to her and patted Twilight on the back. "And I'm gonna vouch for her." I said. That's when I noticed someone standing behind Sunset Shimmer… "Ross?" I asked.

"Hey, Kelly." He waved to me.

"Twilight Sparkle…" I could see Sunset Shimmer's eye twitch. She then smiled. "Well, then, I will welcome your-"

"Cut the crap, Sunset." I simply told her. "Don't you go bipolar on me." I glared at her. That's when Ross stepped in front of her.

"Hey! You leave Sunset alone!" Ross said.

"Oh God, you're vouching for her, aren't you?" I groaned.

"Yeah! I don't know where the hell you're getting that Sunset's a horrible person, but she's one of the nicest girls I met!" Ross said. I could see Sunset give off a less than sincere smile as Ross looked at me.

"Then what the hell was with that whole 'more streamers' thing?" I asked.

"Stress! Obviously it's stress from the upcoming prom!" Ross said.

"… Stress? Who the fuck would fall for someone using stress as an excuse to be a total bitch?" I said. I could hear Twilight gulp and give a nervous chuckle, but I didn't care. Ross could only scowl.

"You know what? Fine. I'll help Sunset win the Fall Formal and she'll show you all how nice of a girl she can be! Come on, Sunset!" Ross then marched out as Sunset Shimmer gave me and the girls a cold look. She then marched out.

"Alright, we can agree that Sunset's a bitch." I said. Applejack and Pinkie Pie instantly nodded, though Twilight shook her head.

"No… She's… Well, yeah, she's a jerk… But I doubt she's _that_ cruel… I mean, she has a friend who's protecting her." Twilight said.

"Yeah, but Ross can be an idiot." I muttered.

"Well, maybe this could be a wakeup call for her. It'll be easy to rally the school to vote against Sunset." Applejack said.

"Yeah! Ol' meanie pants won't know what's comin'!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Well, you have supporters at least, Twi…" I said. I then pulled her aside and then spoke to her in a whispered tone. "Whatever you do, _don't_ tell them about the crown." I said.

"I… I wasn't going to…" She said.

" _Good_. Because I really hate for their support to fall apart just because your goals involve the crown and not knocking a peg off of her." I said.

"Why are you obsessed with knocking her down in the first place?" Twilight asked. I began to remember a bit of my past…

Broken glasses, bleeding knees, the cries of people telling me that I was a loser. I simply frowned and pushed Twilight. I stormed out of the gym.

* * *

Sunset Shimmer and Ross walked down the hallway, though Sunset then stopped and turned to Ross.

"Thank you for backing me up. Those people can be so mean…" Sunset said.

"We're friends." Ross then bit his lip. "Though Kelly's also a friend…" He said.

"You mean Professor Silverbolt?" Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… It's a long story, but…" Ross then spoke up. "She's not herself. She's… It's… it's complicated." Ross said. Sunset then held Ross' hand.

"You can tell me." Sunset gave Ross some droopy eyes.

"… Kelly has this... friend. And this friend's a toxic influence on her. Every day, she slowly begins to think and act just like him. One day, she'll end up believing that she _is_ him and that nothing will stand in her way… Maybe that's why she's acting antagonistic towards you." Ross said.

"I know how that feels." Sunset said.

"If… If you could help me separate her from her friend, then that'd make me happy." Ross said. Sunset smiled.

"Okay. I will." Sunset said. Just then, the lights in the hallway went out. "… Ross, you go ahead. I'll catch up with you later." She said.

"Erm… Okay." Ross shuddered as he looked at the blacked out light. He felt a cold presence near him, almost like a Grimm was in the area. However, he trusted Sunset's words and walked away. Sunset took a few moments before turning to a figure before her.

"This better be important." Sunset asked the figure.

"I was just looking to see if you heeded my advice." A masculine voice came from the figure.

"Yes. The Element of Magic was right where you said it'd be." Sunset Shimmer said. She then shot a glance towards him. "Now… What's _your_ end of the deal?" She asked.

"… None. If anything, you already fulfilled my part of the deal." It took Sunset a moment to realize what he meant.

"So… What do you want with this world, then?" Sunset asked.

"Nothing. As soon as the Element of Magic entered this realm, I already felt my magic return. You can do whatever you want. Our transaction is over. I wish you the best of luck, dearie." With that, dark smoke began to build up from the figure's legs to his head, swirling around until they dissipated. As the smoke cleared, the figure was gone. Sunset coughed. As soon as she stopped coughing, she turned around and saw Twilight Sparkle standing in front of her. Sunset smirked.

"Can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier."

* * *

I tried to shrug off the memories I had as I marched down the hall. This was when Principal Celestia stopped me. She poked her head out of her office like some sort of groundhog ready to hide from his own shadow.

"Professor Silverbolt, do you have a moment?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah… Sure." I sighed. I stepped into the office as Celestia walked to her desk.

"Professor… The recent attacks have made the Headmaster of the school board very concerned… He's why we had Ross transfer over to this school." She said.

"You'd think some teen can help protect this school?" I asked.

"No. Which is why I requested the Headmaster to send backup. And if I timed it right…" Celestia then looked to her watch. I looked at her for a moment before a perky voice made me jump.

"Cheers, love!" It was definitely a Cockney accent. My heart raced as I turned to a giggling girl, about a few years younger than me. She wore what seemed to be a fighter pilot's jacket, a bright yellow jumpsuit underneath, and overlapping the jacket was a large metallic chest plate with what appeared to be a glowing blue core.

"An… _older_ teen. Not what I had in mind." I said.

"Don't let her age fool you. Miss Oxton is a student fresh off of the Wonderbolt Academy." Celestia said.

"The… what?" I asked.

"Right… Allow me to explain. See, the Academia School Board is divided into four schools: Canterlot High School, the school we're in, Crystal Prep Academy, the boarding school _our_ Silverbolt was from, the Everton Independent Study Program, a college filled with scientific geniuses, and Wonderbolt Academy." Celestia said.

"It's a place where people with cool powers get to hone their powers and protect people and-" I raised my hand to stop Miss Oxton from talking my ear out.

"So… There's no replacement?" I asked. I could almost hear Oxton wince. I hate to say it, but I really didn't want a Pinkie Crumpet protecting my school.

"The Headmaster insisted for Miss Oxton to be our security." Celestia sighed.

"Don't worry, love. I'll be ready to protect this school with my life!" She then turned to me. "I can also teach the kids too while you're away!"

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"You've been slipping behind on classes. Plus, it will work as a cover for Miss Oxton and you. You no longer have to worry about being late for teaching ever again and Miss Oxton can work closely to the school without people growing suspicious of her." Celestia said.

"Come on, love, what do ya say?" Miss Oxton asked me.

"… Well, she can take over my shift tomorrow." I sighed and got up. "I have a long day ahead of me." With that, I left.

* * *

As I entered the library, I saw Twilight pounding the keyboard with her fists. It would be very funny if it wasn't so sad.

"Really?" I asked as I went to her. I sighed and grabbed her hands. I pulled her fingers so as to line up with the home row keys. "Use your _fingers_." I said to her.

"Oh…" Twilight then pressed on a few buttons before cracking a grin. "Wow! It's that easy!" Twilight said as I saw that she was still on the desktop. I then looked over to the mouse. Poor thing's barely touched.

"That's just _half_ of the navigation. The other half is this." I pushed the mouse towards her hand. She grabbed it and immediately associated the mouse with the cursor's movement. "And to select, you just click. You can make things activate with two clicks." I said. She moused over to a horse that was on fire and was circling the globe and proceeded to double click on it, popping up the internet browser.

" **Hmmm…** " Banno spoke up.

"What is it?" I asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked to me. "Talking to my belt buddy here."

"… **Never call me belt buddy again. Also… Look over there.** " Banno said. I looked to see two chuckling kids, one chubby and the other thin, having their cameras out. They stopped when they saw me and bolted like hell.

"What's _their_ problem?" Twilight asked.

"My guess is that they find you funny and Youtube material…" I then realized what Twilight would ask next, so I took a breath and spoke. "It's a thing where you can upload videos for people to see and it can be practically anything. In this case, your 'attempts' at computing." I said.

"So… that'd grant me more popularity, right?" Twilight asked. I shook my head, then sat next to her.

"No. I mean… Yes. You'll be popular, but for the _wrong_ reasons. You want to be an influential person in these students' lives? You want to win the vote? Then don't be a fool." I could see Twilight practically blink. "Chances are, they got enough footage to put you up on Youtube. Provided it doesn't get outshined by video footage of a psychotic father destroying something…"

" **Hey!** " Banno coughed up.

"Then it's probably gonna go viral and people will make you out to be a laughing stock." I said. Twilight bit her lip. "But… if you pull through, then you might actually win this prom and get that crown." I said. Twilight then smiled.

"Thank you… You never told me why you wanted to help me." Twilight said. I sighed and simply said:

"I know what it's like to be bullied." I said. Twilight winced.

"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that. But at least you had friends to back you up, right?" Twilight asked me. I closed my eyes and gripped my fists.

"… No. In fact… The one friend I _did_ have… She turned on me. She _used_ me." I said. Twilight simply whimpered and began to hug me.

"I'm sorry! That must have been horrible!" Twilight cried into my shoulder.

"H-hey… It's over now. The damage's done…" I then looked down and frowned. "And it taught me that friendship _isn't_ magic." I said. Twilight then pulled herself out of the hug.

"It _is_ magic! And I can prove it!" Twilight said.

"Really? Well, I'm pretty sure you're well aware that there's a rift between some friends right now." I said. Twilight nodded.

"I just can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer had something to do with it." Twilight said. I simply gave her a deadpan look.

"No. You think?" I asked.

"Well, Twilight, we should focus on making friends here, not wondering why these friends aren't with each other." The dog said, poking his head out of Twilight's backpack. My eye twitched.

"Mind telling me just what's with the dog?" I asked Twilight.

"Oh, Spike? He's…" She turned around to see if there was anyone in the library. I looked too. Seemed Cheerilee was busy with some of the kids on the other side of the computer lab. "He's my assistant." She said. She then looked at my belt. "Is he _your_ assistant?" She asked.

" **I beg your pardon!?** " Banno asked.

"No. He's my partner." I said. Twilight raised her eyebrow.

"I thought you said friendship wasn't magic." Twilight said.

"He's a good partner, but that doesn't make him a good friend. One day, you'll understand what I mean." I said. Cheerliee then walked to me.

"Library's closing in five… Shall I go make the bed for you?" She asked me. I nodded, then looked to Twilight.

"Uh… if you may?" I asked. Cheerilee groaned and walked off. I then looked to Twilight.

"If you get these friends back together, I have a feeling like they can help you better than if they're just separated." I said. Twilight smiled, but then frowned.

"I know… but I have to keep my eyes on the prize." Twilight said. With that, I helped Twilight study on the world she was in, using the exact same techniques that I used when I was first here. Eventually, night came and I showed Twilight to her bed.

Cheerilee does a pretty alright job of making a bed using recycled paper shreds as the cushion and it seemed she made a second one just for Twilight. I got onto the bed and began to sleep, though I doubt Twilight would be getting any sleep from what I told her.

* * *

It was late into the evening. It was the kind of late evening where students should be sleeping. Sunset Shimmer was an exception. Sunset sat in her room, browsing on her computer for any news regarding the new girl, Twilight.

 _Ping!_

Sunset smiled as she received an email from Snips and Snails with a file attached to it. She clicked on the file and saw a short, fifteen second video of Twilight smacking the keyboard with her fists. She looked at it and groaned a bit.

"Okay, it will do…" Sunset said as she opened up a video editing software. That is before she caught a whiff of rose scents.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ross asked Sunset. Sunset blushed and closed off her email application.

"N-nothing! Shouldn't you be going to bed already?" Sunset looked to him and gave a crooked smile.

"I should… but…" Ross then fell onto the bed. "I can't sleep. Every time I do, I get the same nightmares." He said.

"Nightmares?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah… It's… It's all a blur. Everything was too bright. All I can remember was someone screaming out a name… some monster howling… someone saying 'what'… And then… silence. Like there's a ringing in my ear." Ross said.

"That's… Um… Something." Sunset said.

"…. The more I think of it, the more I believe it to be…" Ross then frowned. "It's nothing." Sunset then sighed.

"No. It's not… nothing." Sunset then got onto the bed as well. "Nightmares aren't _nothing_." Sunset laid on her back. "I have nightmares myself. I have dreams of being loved, adored, in power… And then as soon as the sun rose, all of that is gone. The sun usually comes in my nightmares to take away all I worked so hard for. But that's why I work twice as hard. I want to make sure those nightmares don't become a reality." Sunset said. She turned to face Ross. "Anything else happened in your dream?" She asked.

"… Someone died. I remember that much. Arrow in the heart… It's… A common thing I keep on seeing. And the scary part is… I feel like I personally _knew_ who died." Ross then trembled…

"Someone dear to you will die? Is that what your nightmare is about? You know what must be done then, right?" Sunset asked.

"Work twice as hard to make sure they don't die?" Ross asked. Sunset nodded. Ross sighed. "… There's… There's another thing I remember now… After the light… After the ringing, I heard a voice. Someone I never heard before… but someone I too found familiar. He told me that it's alright and that he has me…" Ross said.

"Maybe your dreams reassuring you that someone's got your back." Sunset held Ross with one arm draped around his chest. Ross blushed and turned to Sunset.

"Y…yeah." He remembered her finding him injured underneath the bridge in the middle of the rain. Sunset then stroked Ross' hair.

"It's alright. I got you, kid… I got you." With that, Ross began to be lulled into a rest. Sunset counted the seconds before she could confidently tell that Ross was out.

She then got up and resumed editing the video.

* * *

"Double Diamond, you _sure_ these notes are accurate?" A woman with bright pink skin, curly purple hair with an aquamarine highlight wearing a white uniform with silver linings asked the man in front of her, an albino looking man wearing the exact same uniform. The two were inside a lab with notes strewn across regarding mathematical formulas.

"Positive. If my theory proves correct, then this single yen coin could act as a catalyst to summoning a being from another world." He held up a silver coin. "The informant told me these were called Tokens."

"So, that incident seventeen years back could have possibly been caused by a Token?" She asked.

"Precisely, Starlight!" Double Diamond said.

"A shame what happened to the dreamcatcher though, but if this can bring us one step closer to achieving my ambitions, then that will be all the proof I need!" She said. Double Diamond fiddled with the coin, feeling the raised kanji with his fingers.

"If what he said is right, the incantations are different for each person. You have to hear it before you can outright say it." Double Diamond closed his eyes. He then smirked. "Got it. _With this single coin, I call upon a harvest!_ " With that, he flipped the coin. When it landed, it glowed white before exploding in a shower of light.

As the light faded, the two researchers turned around to see an obese man wearing a green uniform with gold linings over it. His head was completely shaven and had spikes jutting out from his scalp.

"… Why have you summoned me?" He asked.

"It worked!" Starlight said. The fatty glared at them.

"You two… You're not Displaced. How are you able to find out about this? Who are you two?" He asked. Double Diamond stepped closer to him.

"My name is Starlight Glimmer. I'm the Head of Research for the Everton Independent Study Program, or EISP for short. EISP is dedicated to researching all the changes and advancements in this world…" Starlight said. She then smirked. "And other worlds…"

"… What?" The spiked man asked.

"It was inevitable that someone would find about this… Displacing nonsense and wish to understand more of it. Tinker with it, look at the concept under a microscope and perhaps use it to their own benefit. This is where _I_ come in. Double Diamond's my name. I work for a funding organization called Foundation X. Over the past little while, we've been observing the habits of your kind. Eventually, we decided to have a piece of that cake. You are our first experiment." Double Diamond said.

"So… That's what I am to you? An experiment?" He asked. Starlight Glimmer and Double Diamond soon noticed the fat man glowing with a purple aura.

"Of course. But…" Double Diamond snapped his fingers as two men in sunglasses wearing a grayer version of the Foundation X uniform rush in, briefcases in hand, and opened them, revealing dozens of gathered Japanese yen banknotes. "We know how to reward our experiments." The fat man smiled and tried to grab the money, only for one of the members to snap the briefcases shut. "And of course, _after_ they prove useful." The fat man glared at him.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"There is another Displaced in this city. _Two_ , in fact. But we ask you prioritize on this one." Double Diamond opened up his iPad, showing video footage of Kelly throughout her days in Canterlot High School.

"She's going under the identity of one of Foundation X's _former_ members, Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt." Starlight Glimmer said.

"We need things from her. My organization wants her Belt. It's a special belt that contains the AI of a brilliant scientist." Double Diamond said.

"And _my_ organization could accept the professor that has this belt into our ranks of Everton." Starlight Glimmer said.

"So… You want me to kidnap a broad?" Fatty asked. The two nodded. "Heh, no worries…" His aura faded. "Me and my buddies will make short work of her."

* * *

I could feel my gut be punched so hard. My back crumpled against the wall. Everything seemed to be a blur, though I could blame that on the pain I was going through. I fell onto the ground before getting up and… laughing?

" _Surely you realize you won't last long in that state..._ " I could hear someone speak as I began to stumble away from the man who punched me. " _You'll perish soon enough!_ " I was unsure if those haunting words were meant for me or someone else. My vision was wobbly. Perhaps a mixture of being drunk and being beaten to near unconsciousness. " _That's your fate…_ " With that final warning, I could feel myself falling down for what appeared to be hours.

Me falling down into a long… deep… sleep.

* * *

I woke myself up, my heart racing. I had to remind myself of how I just saw the last moments of Ryoma and that his warning was not towards me but towards his opponent.

I looked to my hands. Perhaps this _was_ a warning to myself. That if I continue being Banno's 'partner', I will surely perish.

I looked around. Seemed Twilight and her assistant went on without me. I got off of my bed and walked out of the library.

* * *

As I walked down the hallway, I noticed some of the students snickering. One casual glance at a student's smartphone was all I needed to confirm that the footage those two kids took last night was indeed used to make a parody video. Of course, I didn't look closely enough before the students put away their phones. Being a teacher has its flaws too.

"Hello, love!" My body jumped up as I heard Miss Oxton's perky voice again.

"Wah! Don't scare me like that!" I said.

"Sorry, just a force of habit." Miss Oxton said.

"Aaargh, what do you want?" I asked as we walked down the hall.

"Well, science class is starting soon and I was thinking we'd start that whole subbing thing." She said.

"Eeeh, I don't have anything to do, so you could definitely-" That's when I passed by an empty classroom with five girls, all of which I recognized. "You know what, Miss Oxton? Why don't you go on ahead with that substitute teacher thing? I just remembered I was supposed to do some counselling." I said.

"Aaaaw! It's so sweet how you want to help the students! Don't worry, love, the Calvary's here!" She patted me on the back and began to run off. I swear she's less of a person and more of a mascot. I sighed and entered the class room.

* * *

Ross sat in the science classroom. There was a ten minute delay between classes to allow students to transit properly. Ross, thanks to his Semblance, was able to have at least eight of those minutes to spare.

He spent those minutes watching a certain viral video.

" _Twilight Sparkle wants to be_ your _Fall Formal Princess._ " He could clearly hear Sunset's voice in the video as footage played of Twilight Sparkle, the new student at the school, typing away on a keyboard with her fists. However, the video seemed to be a fifteen second clip of it. It ended and prompted Ross to play the video again, to which he did.

Why, he wasn't sure. Was it because he was still unsure of Sunset's true nature? Was it because he couldn't believe someone so nice would stoop to such a low as bullying another person? The more he watched, the more shocked he was. Eventually, he put down the phone and massaged his temples. That memory played in his head again of the man in the hallway.

What made his brain hurt even more was that he remembered the man: Mercury Black, an antagonist who, along with some other antagonists, feigned being Ruby's friend. He wasn't sure what led to this moment, but knowing how Mercury stood in a confronting pose and how he was having Ruby's memories, he was well aware that the false friends angle would die pretty soon.

Though that begged the question of _why_ he kept remembering Mercury. These memories seemed to be brought up whenever betrayal is mentioned. He wondered why this particular moment kept showing up when that theme is brought up. Ross came to some conclusion that whatever Mercury did to Ruby was much worse than what Cinder or Emerald, his leader and partner in crime respectively, could do to Ruby.

Or perhaps it was the first betrayal. And Ross knew what they say about the first cuts.

"Fuck, gotta watch Volume 3 now…" Ross lightly chuckled as he put away his phone just as Sunset came in.

"Hey Ross." Sunset said to him.

"Mornin'." Ross said. Sunset Shimmer sat down next to Ross. Ross then spoke up. "Sunset, how important is the Fall Formal?" He asked her.

"… It's… It's sort of important." Sunset then scooted to Ross. "Each of the four seasons is meant to teach us something. Winter is about reflection, spring is about revitalization, summer's about embracing the outdoors, and fall is about being thankful for what we have. To remind us of this, Principal Celestia has four dances every year, one for each season. Spring Fling, Summer Gala, Fall Formal, and Winter Ball. Each dance has a Princess that students elect. Those Princesses would then metaphorically embody the spirit of that particular season."

"Wait, just a Princess? No Prince?" Ross asked.

"Yeah, no. I don't know why either. Principal Celestia's pretty insistent that there's only a Princess for the four dances." Sunset said. She then held Ross' hand. "But… you can be _my_ Prince, if you like." Sunset said to Ross. Ross simply looked into her eyes, only for them to flash orange again. Ross shivered.

"Ross, what's wrong?" Sunset asked him. Ross shook his head.

"N-nothing…" Ross said. The bell rung as students began to pour in. The last to enter was the teacher, who, to Ross' surprise, wasn't Kelly, but rather a spunky looking young adult. Ross sighed. Perhaps what happened yesterday caused Kelly to storm out. Ross bit his lip. Perhaps Banno's influencing Kelly harder than he thought.

* * *

I entered the room as the girls bickered about. They soon stopped as soon as I closed the door. It was perhaps the first time I saw Applejack in the same room as Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and the fact that she had the same anger for them as she did with Rainbow Dash confirmed her suspicions.

"What happened? You were friends once!" Twilight took out a blue book and showed the others a picture of the four girls plus Rainbow Dash. The four girls looked at the photo and then frowned. "Sunset Shimmer obviously tore you guys apart!" Twilight said. That's when I shook my head.

"Twilight… It's… It's deeper than that." I told her. I was tempted to tell her what Rainbow texted Fluttershy…

That's when I remembered her saving Fluttershy and her attempt to rescue her from Nerve. Someone who would go to those lengths to save someone wouldn't have said those mean things to them. I then blinked.

"Fluttershy… Are you _sure_ you got those texts from Rainbow Dash? You know the ones." I asked her.

"Y-yeah… Positive! I mean, look at this." She then showed me her phone. I blinked as I saw the number unregistered and that the very first text was the number declaring itself as Rainbow Dash. Out of curiosity, I closed the text and then pressed the phone button.

Sure enough, Rainbow Dash's number was in the contacts and they didn't even match the ones that the texts had. I went back to the texts and noticed a similar text regarding Pinkie Pie and making fun of her shy nature. Taking a hunch, I showed Pinkie Pie.

"W-what? I'd _never_ text her that!" Pinkie Pie said. Soon, bickering occurred, though now it was more of a pleasant bickering. Girls concluding that they'd been fooled and forgiving one another. Twilight smiled at me. Though that's when my heart stopped.

"Tell me something… Why didn't you girls confront each other about these texts beforehand? You know… _confirm_ that you were sending each other these texts?" My voice was stern and sharp.

"Well… I was angry with Dash… But you would be too if-" I cut Applejack off.

"If what? If some bitch pretended to be my friend and make insulting comments towards me? Or lie to me about what they want done?" My hands balled up into fists.

"Professor… Calm down…" Twilight tried to speak to me, but I just stormed out. A part of me stopped, just so that I could give the final word.

"Are you _really_ friends if you automatically assume the worst out of each other?" With that, I slammed the door.

* * *

I figured the fresh air would help break up the pent up rage in my body. Of course, someone had to chime in as I walked onto the soccer field.

" **Well, well… Haven't seen anger like** _ **that**_ **since I died… Well, the** _ **second**_ **time I died.** " Banno said. I tried to inhale and exhale. Banno's right, I'm getting irrationally angry. " **I know** _ **exactly**_ **how it feels to have a close friend betray you…** " I immediately knew what Banno was referring to.

His close friend was another professor by the name of Krim Steinbelt. He was the one who created the Core Driviars, engines that could accelerate the particles and invoke a slowdown. Without him, the Roidmudes would have never existed.

And I knew exactly how their relationship ended.

"I wasn't the one torturing someone, though." I said.

" **Regardless, Krim never saw from my perspective and rather than communicate with me, left me on my own. Had he stuck around… Maybe the Roidmudes wouldn't be the monsters they'd be now, would they?** " Banno gave a dark chuckle before I growled.

"Shut up." I told him.

" **You don't like it when I get under your skin, huh? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I will do more than get under your skin… I'll take** _ **over**_ **your skin! Do you like that feeling? Knowing that I'll one day figure out how to take over your body and use it to make those friends of yours beg for mercy?** " Banno said.

"Shut up." I said to him.

" **Rage is the quickest way to unlock one's ruthlessness… And I gotta say, now I know where you got that ruthlessness from. And the more ruthless you become…** _ **I**_ **become…** " Banno said. That one little line tore me up.

"SHUT UP!" I shouted. Banno just laughed. My entire body shook.

" **This is a race, Kelly. Who can kill who the fastest? Me… or you?** " Banno said. As he finished, I heard a new voice. A raspy voice.

"Found you…" I turned around to see a very fat man wearing a green uniform with yellow pearls to act as lining for the clothes. He was bald with spikes jutting out of his head.

"And who the fuck are you?" I asked.

"I think you should know by now." He smirked. He then walked to me. "Displaced have a tendency to attract Displaced." He approached at least a meter in front of me before giving off a whiff. "Yeah… I can tell you're a Displaced… So tell me. What powers do you have?" He then chuckled. "No. Scratch that. I'd rather have the first cut… They're always the deepest!" He then flailed his hands. I didn't notice what he was doing, but I suddenly felt a sliver of skin on my arm suddenly get cut off by an invisible force.

"Gah!" I shouted before another force cut the other side of my arm, and then my legs.

"It's a shame that I was told to bring you and the belt alive… I wouldn't have minded having my friends cut an artery or two and make the suffering quick." He said. I struggled to activate the Driver, grinding my teeth to ignore the pain.

"HENSHIN!" I shouted as I turned the ignition twice and transformed into Gold Drive. Like clockwork, Type Technic was summoned and I plugged it in. My HUD glowed and showed the fat man bathed in what appeared to be a purple light. I also began to notice small bee like humanoids falling from my body and retreating to the fat man. The beemen were in the dozens… No…. The _hundreds_.

"What the fuck are these things?!" I asked.

"Ah, so you can see them now? This will make things a little more exciting. I'd like to explain the power to you and why you can't see them, but to save on time, you can just call these little men… _Harvest_." He said. The tiny beemen began to mobilize to create a shield for their seeming master while a horde of them came towards me. I switched the controls to Banno as the Door Gun came into his hands. He fired wildly at Harvest. A handful of them were blasted off before Harvest began to overwhelm Banno.

"Think of Harvest as a swarm of army ants. Nothing can stop it from tearing apart anything it comes into contact with!" He said as Harvest began to punch their way into Banno's armor. Sparks began to fly out of the armor before knocking Banno back. He rolled onto the ground and struggled to get up. "How boring… Harvest, rip the belt out from this pathetic person's waist." He scoffed. Harvest marched towards me.

 **POP!**

That's when I heard something.

"Hiya!" It was Pinkie's voice. I looked up to see that Pinkie Pie was suddenly besides the fat man before clocking him in the face. He stumbled back as Harvest flinched. Before Fatty could even react, a soccer ball flew right into the side of his head and knocked him down. I turned to see Rainbow Dash as she gave me a thumbs up.

"Rainbow Dash… Pinkie Pie… Thanks." I said. Rainbow Dash glared to Pinkie Pie as she did the same. The two seemed to stare before Rainbow Dash just smirked.

"So that's what happened, huh?" Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles. "Well, after we take care of fatso over here, I'll help Twilight with the Fall Formal." She said.

"Wait, how did you know?" I asked. That's when I noticed the HUD was showing Pinkie Pie having a pink aura around her. I soon saw three other auras approaching the field, one white, another yellow, and a third orange. These belonged to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack as I saw them arrive. Fluttershy meekly waved to me.

"Whoowhee, these girls really got a hang of these powers." Applejack said. She patted Fluttershy on the back. "Fluttershy here was able to tell Rainbow Dash what happened via weird fingly fangly psychic powers." She said. So Telepathy. Okay. Banno struggled to get up. Pinkie Pie then suddenly vanished with the sound of a popping balloon. One popping balloon sound later and she reappeared between Rarity and Fluttershy. Fluttershy jumped a little as Rainbow Dash ran to catch her. I stood up and smiled.

"So… You guys finally made up?" I asked. The five nodded. Twilight then arrived.

"Now… do you want to see the magic of friendship?" Twilight asked. I nodded. After relying on the ruthlessness of Type Overdrive, I'd rather use something else.

"Yeah… Banno, leave this to me." I said as Banno turned the ignition. Four Shift Cars came to me as I held one, Shift Speed. I turned to Rainbow Dash and nodded to her. "Let's go, students!" I said as I saw Fatty get up.

"YEAH!" The girls went into a fighting pose, though Fluttershy put up a sort of meek posture. I plugged in Shift Speed and along with Rainbow, we dashed towards Fatty. We both gave Fatty a flurry of bows, knocking some of Harvest away from him before punching him away. That's when I noticed that a lot of Harvests began to latch onto me. I tried to punch them off but they clung onto my armor. Switching Speed for Wild, I called out to Applejack.

"What do you need, Sugar Cube?" Applejack asked.

"Punch me as hard as you can." I said.

"What?" She replied.

"… Just do it." The image of Harvest digging into my forearm's armor began to fade from my HUD. I held out the arm as Applejack punched it. It created quite a shockwave, but not enough to cause any actual damage to the arm, especially with Wild increasing my durability. I swapped out Wild for Technic to reboot the HUD and have me look at Harvest again. I then looked to Fluttershy.

"It'd be easier if these girls can see what I can see." I told her. Fluttershy gulped, but she nodded and held out her hands. As she did, the girls started to jump out of the way. I saw within my HUD that they were able to see Harvest creeping up to them. Swapping out Technic for Formula, I ran at hurricane speeds to knock the Harvests away.

"Oooh! Oooh! Let me fight! Let me fight!" Pinkie said. I nodded and we both vanished into thin air. Well, for me, I sort of went so fast that I was there one moment and right in front of Fatty in the next moment. Both me and Pinkie Pie both punched Fatty in the face and knocked him down. I then swapped for Dead Heat and allowed myself to enter the Dead Zone. I punched Fatty with a red-lightning charged fist right into his gut, then proceeded to punch him in the face, knocking him back a few inches before I kicked him right into the goal. I dusted myself off.

"One-zip." Rainbow Dash said.

"Shishishishishi…" Fatty laughed as I could see Harvest lift him back up. He then laughed a blob of Harvest to overwhelm me. I couldn't move in time as the tiny beemen took me on and engulfed me. "One little move and I kill your friend!" He said. Harvest seemed to engulf the lower part of my body where the belt was. I could see Pinkie Pie teleport to Fatty, only for another swarm of Harvest to grab her.

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight shouted.

"Same goes with teleporting!" Fatty said.

"L-let her go!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Never… Shishishishi…" I could see Fatty almost command Harvest into attacking Pinkie by making a crushing motion with his hands, but that's when I saw a single Harvest drone bring something shiny. "Huh?" Fatty picked up the object. Seemed to be a red jewel of some sort. "Aaaah, good find, Harvest." He said.

"Consider that payment in exchange for our friend's safety." Rarity said. Fatty just looked to her.

"Shishishi… You're a dumbass. Everyone knows you're supposed to offer the payment to a hostage taker instead of just paying him." Fatty said.

"Oh, but darling, that wasn't what I had in mind." Rarity said. Before Fatty could realize it, the red gem glowed. As he looked at the glowing gem, I could see in his eyes a sort of shock. I recognized this look before. It's the same thousand yard stare I had whenever I remember something from Ryoma's past.

"THROW THAT AWAY, HARVEST! THRO-" Too late. The gem blew up and the two Harvest swarms stopped their grasp on me and Pinkie. I smirked as the threat was taken care of. As the smoke cleared, however, I heard Fluttershy gasp and wince "Oh my!"

Fatty was still alive, but had massive gashes into his flesh. Blood poured out from the open skin as he weakly got up.

"D-don't think this is the last of me… Shishishi…" As he walked away, something about kicking the wounded fatass just made me outright giddy… Even…

Ruthless.

Suddenly, the compound lights on Gold Drive switched to its bullseye design as the Shift Tridoron car came into my hand.

"Allow us to finish him off." Me and Banno said as we pressed onto the button located on the hind wheel.

 **FIRE ALL ENGINES!**

Before I could put it into the Shift Brace, Fluttershy ran and held me.

"No! Stop!" Fluttershy shouted.

"Let me go!" We both said.

"Hold her down!" Fluttershy said as the other girls grabbed me.

"Stop this! Now!" We said as my hand subconsciously held onto the Door Gun, finger hovering over the trigger while the barrel dug right into Fluttershy's gut.

"I don't want anyone else to die, okay!?" Fluttershy said as she was on the verge of tears. My finger twitched between touching the trigger and being inches away. For one moment, me and Banno both thought of shooting Fluttershy, breaking out of the crowd as we invoked Slowdown to finish off Fatty…

However, I then thought about going through with killing Fluttershy and the consequences that it held. Knowing I've killed someone, seeing everyone grieve for her, seeing all the trust I sowed into the girls be shattered. I thought about _not_ killing her. Eventually my hand relaxed as the golden armor came off of me and I became faint.

"So-sorry…" I said. Twilight helped me up.

"It wasn't your fault. I could tell that you were no longer in control. It's happened to a few of my friends." Twilight said. She then placed a hand on my shoulder. "So long as you have friendship by your side, however, you can accomplish anything." She said. I hesitated.

" **You're not gonna buy this garbage, are you?** " Banno quipped before Twilight glared at him. I sighed before shedding a single tear.

"Thanks…" I took Twilight's hand and tore it away from my shoulder. "But if you _are_ my friends… then I don't want to hurt you…" I got up and walked away. "You're gonna have to be the Fall Formal Princess without me." I said as I left the soccer field.

Banno was right, if I got more ruthless, _he_ gets more ruthless. And it's only a matter of time before I become just like him… Or worse, he takes over me.

* * *

The Fat Man slumped over. He couldn't go an extra mile. Thankfully, he had Harvest drag him to his destination: Everton Independent Study. As he got up and inched to the door, he could see a man in the reflection of the window. A man with bleached, slicked back white hair, blood red lips, pale skin, and wore a black leather jacket with black leather pants. Fatty's eyes went wide as his body stiffened.

"Hello there. You remember me, don't you?" The pale man asked. Fatty slowly nodded. "It's been such a long time since we last saw each other…" The pale man caressed Fatty's shoulder. He then eyed the door leading into Everton. "You were summoned by these people, right?" Fatty nodded. "I see… Those idiots think they can harness the powers of a Displaced, let alone one who dwells in the Void. Why trust them when you can trust me?" With a wave of his hand, Fatty's wounds closed up and he could stand normally.

"This place held me prisoner for seventeen damn long years. I really don't want you to be subject to the same experiments I was put through." He said.

"B-but… They're paying me…" Fatty said.

"And so?" The pale man, with a flick of his hand, summoned a gold brick out from a puff of gray smoke. "I can _make_ so much money that the economy could crumble beneath my feet." The pale man said.

"… So you _are_ recruiting me." Fatty said.

"Yes. I am. Seventeen years is quite a long time and my grip has softened because of it. But now that I am able to leave this world now, I am considering rebuilding an army and picking up where I last left off." He said. Fatty paused. "Ooooh, but you know full well about this offer." His cold, pale hands traced from Fatty's shoulder to the nape of his neck. "I refuse to take no for an answer." He growled. Fatty trembled, but then stiffened again. If he was fast enough, then maybe… just maybe he can get away. He opened the door and-

He felt a sharp knife enter his chest. Only he _knew_ it wasn't a knife, especially as he felt five appendages attached to it feeling up his heart before grabbing it and yanking it out. Fatty fell onto his knees, out of breath as he turned to see the pale man holding his heart, now bathed in a glowing red light.

"I wanted to help you. I really did. I don't want anyone to suffer the treatment I got at that horrible place." The man gripped his hold on the heart. "Consider this mercy." Tighter and tighter, the heart shrank until it was completely engulfed in the pale man's hand. Fatty slumped to the floor in a lifeless heap as the pale man let go of the remains of the heart, nothing more than dust.

 **Click**.

The pale man could see in his reflection an angry man with a fedora and a brown military jacket holding a gun at him.

"Niko! I was _wondering_ what took you so long." The pale man smiled.

"I should have known those bastards had the audacity to summon you before handing your Token to me." Niko said.

"Oh, don't fret. I have no purpose for this world. All I wanna do is get out of here. Stretch my legs." The pale man turned around and extended his arms widely. Niko still pointed his gun at him. "And yet, you still threaten me. I thought I taught you well when you first did this." He walked over to Niko, took his gun, and bent its barrel with a glow of olive light. " _Never_ pick a fight with your Displacer. It's just… messy." He smiled while playfully slapping Niko's cheek. He then unbent the barrel and went on his merry way. Niko pointed the gun towards him, but as he fired, the pale man burst into a cloud of gray smoke and disappeared. Niko then heard sirens.

"Damn." He muttered as he used the hook shots to get out while cops closed in on the corpse of the fat man.


	6. Who Cleared Our Names?

Fire...

Ross could see fire around Canterlot High. The smell of sulfur and ash got too much to him as he coughed. As he closed his eyes, a voice rang in his head. A man's voice. He felt like he heard it before, but the voice was in such a desperate tone, he felt like it was a whole new voice altogether.

" _Please, you have to stop her!_ "

Ross' eyes opened up as he saw a woman on fire. As he glazed forward, he could recognize the girl on fire.

"S-sunset?" He could see her blazing hair and fire coming from her eyes. She merely grinned and held up her hand, a ball of fire forming from the palm.

" _She doesn't stand a chance!_ "

The desperate sounding voice rang out in Ross' ears as he could see a flash of gold. He could see Kelly walk up to Sunset, now as Gold Drive. Her body jerked around for a few moments before it stopped. Ross could hear the maniacal laugh of Banno as he took over Kelly's body and held up the Steering Sword. He walked towards Sunset, almost robotically.

" _Please, you have to save-"_

Ross couldn't take it anymore. With a scream, Ross wrapped himself in his cape and flew to Banno, scythe in hand as he slashed in two, then four. As the pieces fell, the blood red light in Banno's compound eyes faded out. Ross panted for a moment.

" _Please..._ "

Ross' body shivered as he could see the armor of Gold Drive disappear. In its place was a girl with lifeless eyes. Ross couldn't bear to see Kelly's split-apart body and turned around, only to see the blazing Sunset Shimmer standing before a battered and beaten Twilight Sparkle, bits of clothing torn from her as blood seeped from her mouth. Ross stood still, unable to stop what happened next. Another voice, one female, then flooded Ross' mind.

" _Do you believe in destiny?_ "

Sunset flung the fireball towards Twilight. As the fireball hit her, for a split second he could once again imagine the arrow piercing someone's heart, though now in a grander detail as he could see two people, murderer and victim, taking the place of Sunset and Twilight respectively. They were crimson silhouettes, though Ross could see that the two were women from their body figure. However, as the arrow pierced the victim's heart...

* * *

Ross flung out of his bed and woke up. He trembled as he looked around. He was still in Sunset's room. Panting, he got out of bed and looked around. The dark of the night obscured most of his vision and he didn't want to disturb Miss Shimmer's sleep by cracking a light. He tip toed rather slowly and in five minutes, he had made it to the kitchen.

There, he was less concerned with turning on a light and getting a drink. As he grabbed a glass of water and sat by the table, his legs became heavy as he could not help but stare at his drink.

"Rough night's sleep?" Ross' spine tingled as he could hear that woman's soothing voice. Whipping around, Ross glared at Sunset's mom before calming down.

 _It's not her. It's not her._ Ross thought. Ross simply nodded. Sunset's mom sat down on the chair parallel to Ross.

"It's... It's about your daughter." Ross said. He then closed his eyes. "Actually, it's more than that." He struggled not to beat around the bush. Even if she looked like the last person he'd ever have a drink with, Ross _had_ to let it out. "I feel like the friends I've made will be torn apart from me."

"What makes you think that?" Sunset's mom asked.

"I have a friend and... she's slowly getting more and more aggressive. I fear it'll be to the point where she'll lose it." Ross said.

"... Has Sunset been-" Ross then cut her off.

"No! This is... This is another friend." Sunset's mom simply looked at Ross.

"Fine. We'll go with _that_ analogy." She said.

"... Don't get me wrong. Sunset's also a bit on the bitchy side. But-" That's when Sunset's mom gave a frown.

"It's the Fall Formal, isn't it?" Ross nodded. She got up to go over to the coffee machine. "I figured as such. Ever since she enrolled at Canterlot High, she's been overly ambitious of her goals. I guess she got that from _my_ genes." She said. She turned to Ross. "Do you like coffee?" She asked. Ross nodded. "How do you take it?"

"Cream and five sugars." Ross automatically said. It took a moment for her to register before she sighed and complied with the order. She returned with the coffee for both her and Ross. Ross hesitated before he took a sip. In any other world, they'd be fighting each other. However, Ross simply looked into the woman's amber colored eyes and felt calm. "T-thanks, by the way." Ross said.

"It's nothing. To tell you the truth, Sunset's put _me_ on edge too." That's when Ross leaned onto the table.

"Wait, what?" Ross asked.

"At first, I thought her desires were just competitive ambition, but each time she won the crown, she got more and more aggressive." Sunset's mother sighed as she sipped a bit of her coffee. "It's almost like the crown was driving her more and more up the wall."

"..." Ross left his cup on the table. "The Fall Formal... Sunset told me how the princesses would embody the traits that each season represents. If... If it wasn't a metaphor and something literal..." Ross then chugged his coffee and put the mug on the table. He stood up and readied himself. "Thank you, Miss Shimmer." He said.

"Um... No problem?" She raised her eyebrow as Ross then ran off, turning into a red blur as rose petals fluttered about. She blinked, then sipped more of her coffee.

* * *

Ross stood on the rooftop, looking through the scope of the rifle. Canterlot High. He was pretty sure where the crown would normally be. If it's all in preparation for the Fall Formal, then it'd be in a safe place, now wouldn't it?

He aimed at the Principal's office. The school, despite the recent Roidmude attacks, was not too keen on amping up security, it seemed. Considering that the school has Gold Drive, they don't seem _that_ concerned with security.

And so Ross calculated the way he'd be able to break into the school and steal the crown. And then, out of nowhere...

"Psst," Ross' heart raced, "what are you looking at?" A female, cockney accent perked up in Ross' ear. Surprised, he flung his rifle, transforming it into a scythe and struck what appeared to be a flash of blue light. He heard giggling as he fired wildly at the swooshing light, all while tiny blue bullets fired from said light. They didn't seem to hit him hard, thanks in part to his aura and thanks in part to the pulsing nature of the bullets, but the tickling was more akin to getting shocked by static.

Ross was able to see for a brief second what was firing at him. It was a woman... Someone he knew...

"M-miss Oxton?!" Ross asked before the blur ran to him and stopped, showing that it was indeed Oxton.

"Hello... Oh, is that you, Ross?" She raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing out here, love?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Ross kept his scythe close to Miss Oxton's side.

"Well, it's my job to secure the area and make sure no one breaks in. So... why are _you_ breaking in? Thought you'd get the answer keys to tomorrow's test?" She smirked. Ross shook his head.

"No. It's..." Ross sighed and transformed Crescent Rose back to its stationary state. "I'm trying to steal the crown and try to destroy it." Ross said.

"Well why do you want to do _that_?" Oxton asked.

"Because my friend's becoming more and more mean! If I destroy the crown, maybe it can make her nicer." Ross said.

"Oooh, Ross..." Oxton sat down next to Ross, patting on the ground next to her for Ross to sit on. Ross complied and sat down. "The crown means a lot to these people." She said.

"I know, but... If it makes people embody the absolute worst part of themselves... I can't let it fester. If you knew of an artifact that made your friend a dick, would _you_ do something about it?" Ross asked. Oxton gave a bit of a pause before she answered.

"Perhaps, but this isn't the answer." Oxton said.

"Then what is? My friend's resorting to slandering her competition! Next she'll probably hold someone hostage and maybe kill someone..." Ross sighed before he trembled.

"Why do you think that, love?" Oxton asked.

"... I..." He chuckled. "I get these dreams. Dreams that I felt as though they already happened before. Well, it's not really déjà vu, but rather... Memories." Ross said before he frowned. "And recently I'm having memories of everything falling around me and... I don't know why..." Ross said. He closed his eyes as a tear fell from them. Oxton sighed and held Ross.

"Don't worry, love. I know how that feels... I'm sure everything will be alright." Oxton said.

"... I hope so..." Ross said.

* * *

Twilight and I awoke to the sound of gunfire. It was familiar gunfire. _Ross._

"Kelly, what's going on?" Twilight asked me. I peeked over to the window.

"Bad stuff's happening. Let's go." I said as I got up and rushed out to the front field where I saw Ross fight off this blur... I was too far though and the fight ended with a conversation between him and... Wait, Miss Oxton?

I took a moment to realize that Miss Oxton was the security guard that Celestia hired. I took a sigh and walked forward. When I approached them, I managed to see Oxton hugging Ross and comforting him on the rooftop. Twilight managed to catch up to me, though nearly tripping over as she was close.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" I asked as I helped up Twilight.

"Oh, hey Kelly. Ross here was just going on a nightly stroll. Ain't that right, Ross?" She elbowed Ross. I rolled my eyes as Ross stammered.

"It's okay. You can tell me the truth." I said.

"... Okay. I was trying to destroy the crown." Ross said. Twilight gasped as I looked to him.

"What?" I asked.

"The crown's corrupting Sunset every time she wears it! If I destroy it, maybe it'd revert her to being someone nicer!" Ross said. I took the palm of my hand and applied it directly to my face.

"Ross, you don't understand. The crown you're talking about is not the crown inside the school." Twilight said.

"Indeed. Which is why I don't want you to do that." I said.

"W-what? Why?" Ross asked.

"I need this crown for my..." Twilight stopped herself from talking.

"You need this? For what? Did you see what the crown did to Sunset? I don't want anyone else to wear that corrupting piece of-"

"Ross, love, language!" Oxton slapped Ross' face playfully. I sighed and shook my head.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna let you destroy it." I said.

"Or what?" Ross stood up.

"You know what." I edged my fingers to the ignition and smirked.

"Kelly..." Twilight tried to talk me out of it. Ross just glared and readied is scythe. I smirked, and I could feel that Banno was smirking too.

"Hen-"

Just then I heard sirens wailing. I turned around and saw two police cars pull onto the front lawn of the school. One of the cops came out. It was Soarin' as he pointed a gun at me.

"Jetstorm Silverbolt! Twilight Sparkle! You two are under arrest!" Soarin' shouted. I groaned and raised my hands. Twilight just raised my arms with eyebrows raised, shivering a bit.

"Oh for what now?" I muttered.

"Murder." Soarin' said with a glare.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"W-what?" Miss Oxton muttered. Ross only gave a sigh.

"Officer, we never killed anyone! What makes you think-" Twilight protested, but Soarin' cut her off.

"You're under arrest for the murder of Shigekiyo Yangu. Or at the very least, assault and fourth-degree murder." Soarin' said. I then realized who he spoke of. The fat man I fought at the field. I sighed and simply held my hands up.

"Ah shit. Okay. Let's go." I came over to him. He simply frowned.

"... I had so much faith in you." He said as he took me to the car and slapped the cuffs on me.

"I know." I said. Another cop, Spitfire, came over to apprehend Twilight.

"But we didn't-"

"Save it for when we get to the station. Miranda rights and all th- Hey, do we even _have_ Miranda rights here?" I asked.

"You have the right to remain silent until-" Soarin' said before I cut him off.

"Okay, just wanted to know." With that, I stayed silent as he tossed me and Twilight into the car and drove off.

* * *

"... What just happened?" Oxton said.

"What do you think? Kelly murdered someone. And I'm not going to let Sunset fall down the same path." Ross tried to jump off the roof, but he soon heard the sound of wire zipping through as he was suddenly tackled.

"Ross!" Niko shouted to him.

"W-what the?!" Ross exclaimed.

"Ross, we don't have time. I have to warn you and Kelly about-" That's when Niko turned around and saw Kelly in the police car as it drove away. "What the hell happened!?" Niko said.

"Kelly got arrested for murder." Ross said.

"W-what!? How?" Niko said.

"Dunno. _You're_ the one who stuck that psychopath on her waist." Ross said.

"She chose him! I was offering her something completely different! You saw, right?" Niko said.

"I'm sorry... what's going on here?" Oxton asked. Niko and Ross took a moment before Niko sighed.

"Okay... Let's convene somewhere... quieter." Niko said.

* * *

Though Ross didn't seem to think that the Rabbit Hole would qualify as 'quiet'. Music blared loudly as people constantly chattered about random stuff. It didn't help that glasses were being slammed down as the words CHUG echoed throughout the bar and pool balls clattered. Ross, Niko, and Oxton were sitting in a booth, Oxton and Ross sitting next to each other with Niko sitting parallel.

"And that'll be all, thanks." Niko slipped a gold coin into the waitress' hand.

"No problem." She bowed and walked away.

"So... you and Ross aren't from this world." Oxton held a cup of coffee in her hands and sipped it.

"Yep. We're just people who've been Displaced." Niko said.

"Displaced... I heard that term before." Oxton said.

"It's getting tossed around here and there. No thanks to Foundation X." Niko said.

"Foundation X?" Ross asked.

"Yeah. They're an organization I've been assigned to keep a close eye on. They're the reason why Kelly was put here in the first place." Niko said before taking a swig of some hard lemonade.

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"Foundation X... They're the reason the Roidmudes are here. I sent Kelly to go take care of them and it seems you got wrapped up in the chaos." Niko said.

"... Why? Why did you let Kelly fight?" Ross asked Niko as he went over the table and grabbed him by the collar. "Because of you, she's killed someone!" He growled.

"Ross! Calm down!" Oxton tried to pull back Ross. Niko shook his head.

"She didn't kill him though. I saw who murdered him." Niko shoved Ross off and he fell down back to his seat. "... The man who murdered him was my Displacer." Ross blinked.

"You were a Displaced as well?" Ross asked.

"We're not so different, huh? Not all Displacers are Gods bored with life and wanted to fuck around with life... Pardon my French." He said to Oxton. "But my Displacer... he's _worse_. He is perhaps the very personification of darkness. He doesn't care for anyone else. We can't apprehend him, but we _can_ clear Kelly's name." Niko said.

"And how do _you_ know this? For all I know, you're lying to me." Ross said.

"I would never lie about something this serious... But, you have a point. Which is why you'll have to see it for yourself." Niko then handed a slip of paper to Ross. "The man was murdered outside Everton. You'll find security footage inside." Niko then got up.

"Why can't _you_ do it?" Ross asked before giving the slip of paper back.

"Because you need to see it with your own eyes. Besides, I scored some bad blood with the Foundation. They'd be less than thrilled to see me in their place after the shit I pulled. Not to mention the police at the crime scene." Niko said. He then left as the waitress returned with some baby back ribs.

"Sir! Your ribs!" She said.

"Give it to the boy in the hood." Niko said. The waitress looked to Ross, shrugged, and gave him the ribs. Ross just looked over the ribs. He simply thought of the situation he was in. Sunset's being more and more of a bitch, Kelly may or may not have murdered someone, and Niko just asked him to break into a building. He sighed.

"Now I know where I heard the term before!" Oxton's cheery tone snapped him out of it though.

"H-huh?" Ross asked.

"Our leader, Rose... He's a Displaced." She said.

"W-what?" Ross asked.

"Ooh, sorry, gotta keep on the downlow..." Her voice turned into a whisper. "I'm actually a member of the Wonderbolts. You know them, right?" She asked.

"Erm... somewhat..." Ross replied.

"So, it turns out, Rose is a Displaced too." She then got out her phone and dialed up a number.

"Huh... Small world." Ross said. Oxton waited a bit before she spoke up.

"Hey, Cam! Listen, can you round up Rose and Shadow and have them rendezvous with us at Everton? Alright, perfect! See ya." She said before she hung up.

"What the..." Oxton then placed a finger over Ross' lips.

"Don't worry, love. The cavalry's here." She said.

* * *

The lights flickered on as I sat in the interrogation room for a third time. However, I wasn't alone this time. Next to me were Twilight Sparkle and the five students who I teach. Sitting in front of me was Soarin'. I have never seen him this upset since he arrested Wind Rider. I looked around and saw the girls mostly sharing the feeling of shock, except for Rainbow Dash, whose grin was so large and wide, it felt almost unsettling.

"Autopsies report that Shigekiyo died of a heart attack outside of the Everton Independent Study building, presumably caused by the stress you gave him when you were beating him up outside CHS. This is footage captured near the bleachers at the field, sent to us by an anonymous tip." Soarin' took out an iPad which showed footage recorded from the bleachers of us fighting the little fat man.

"Well, have you seen the part where he started it?" Applejack scowled.

"The video began with you guys already in the middle of the fight. As such, we can only take evidence from what we're seeing and not some word from the accused." As I observed the footage, I realized that the little men, those Harvests, were not seen. Plus I had high doubts that Fluttershy's newfound ability could let Soarin' see them. The scene where Applejack hit me was seen. Applejack extended her arm to the screen.

"Well, what about that? Aren't you gonna ask why I hit her?" Applejack asked.

"I _would_ , but I would also ask about what went on with this." The next bit had Pinkie teleporting to me as we punched the fat man in the face.

"Oooh, yeah, that's our new abil-" Twilight then held Pinkie's mouth closed. Soarin' merely glared at the two.

"Well, what about when he held the professor and Pinkie hostage?" Rainbow Dash said as the footage then went to me and Pinkie standing perfectly still while a single red jewel floated over to the fat man.

"Didn't look like that to me. In fact, it looked like you pretty much blew him up." Cue the exploding jewel. "And don't get me started on this little line:" The camera then zoomed in as it focused on me attempting to use the Tridoron Shift Car.

" _Allow us to finish him off._ " I shuddered as I heard myself and Banno say that.

"You guys didn't go through with it, thankfully, but the wounds he had seemed to have caused him to die of a heart attack. Thus, fourth-degree murder." Soarin' said.

"But we didn't kill him!" Rainbow Dash said. I sighed and spoke up.

"Fourth degree means we killed the guy on accident without any intent to kill him in the first place." I said. Soarin' simply nodded to me before I shut myself up.

"Now, you'll be put in jail for approximately 48 hours. At which time you will either obtain a lawyer or have one be given to you by the court of law. After that, the trial will commence, which will be pretty lengthy. Because a lot of you are minors, I'd expect something like six months of community service or juvenile detention, but in the case of your teacher here." He looks to me. "The sentence might be heavier. We're talking years in prison..." He frowned again. That's when I heard the door knocking. Soarin' turned around as he saw the door fling open.

"Wait, dad!" It was Flash Sentry. I saw Twilight blush a little as I rolled my eyes.

"Son, what are you doing here? This is official police business! You should be in bed!" Soarin' said.

"I looked at the autopsy reports you left on the table and-" Flash held up the folder with the words detailing the victim's name, date of death, and cause of death.

"You what?! Look, this is very serious stuff, you shouldn't be handling..." Soarin' said, though Flash ignored him and slammed the folder on the table, causing the photos of the deceased fatty to slide out. Upon close inspection, the wounds that I saw on him were not on his body.

"If he indeed died from the wounds, then why are there none on these photos?" Flash said. Soarin' stammered a bit. "And who gave you the video footage? It seemed awfully coincidental that this was even recorded from such a convenient enough place." Flash said. Soarin' took the photos and scooped them back into the folder.

"These shouldn't be questions you should be asking." I get chills every time Soarin' sounds more and more serious. I never thought I would say this, but I wanted the silly Soarin' back. "It's the police's job to find out those answers. You have your own answers to find." He said.

"Like what happened to my mom?" Flash said. An air of silence filled the room as Soarin' sighed.

"Like how you're going to graduate from school if you're spending time being awake when you should be asleep." He patted Flash on the back and pushed him out of the room. "Now go back to the house. I have to finish up the interrogation." Soarin' said as he shut the door. He paused for a bit before he turned around. "...This is out of my hands. I have questions about this myself, but the only way I'll find them out is if you guys get on your best behaviour and go through the court. Hopefully the judge will have a better idea on what's going on." With that, Flash took the folder, shut off the iPad, and walked out of the room. I sighed and leaned back against the chair.

"This can't be happening... I can't go to jail!" Twilight said.

"Well, it's like he said: out of our hands." I threw my hands up said.

"No, you don't understand! I need to..." I noticed Twilight look around before going silent. "I really need to go to school..." Twilight just said. I shook my head.

"Hey, Kel, you can bust us out, right?" Rainbow Dash asked me.

"Erm... What?" I asked.

"That belt of yours, you can just become Golden Drive and get us out of here, right?" Rainbow Dash turned her head to me. I sat up straight and focused on Dash.

"No. I will not let us be fugitives." I said.

" **But it may be inevitable...** " Banno piped up. Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy got up in surprise and looked at the belt as Banno's face appeared. I just facepalmed.

"Banno, girls. Girls, Banno." I said. That's when Fluttershy poked the belt.

" **Quit it!** " Banno said.

"You're the voice that came from our teacher when she tried to fire that gun at me..." Fluttershy said. Applejack merely looked at me before I glance back with a dull look.

"Yeah, Banno's the reason why I get a little... ruthless." I said.

" **Sure, blame me and not yourself. Last I checked, you enjoyed the previous times we fought together. You** _ **liked**_ **the ruthlessness.** " Banno chuckled.

"And try as he might, I'm not gonna cut any Gordian knots with him. If we're going to get out of here, we're gonna get out the old fashioned way." I said.

"Staging a prison break?" Rainbow Dash smiled.

"... Waiting for a trial and hope the judge and jury don't have us meet the executioner." I said. Rainbow Dash sat back in her seat and frowned.

"Can we have Banno please?" Rainbow Dash said. "He's cool."

"He's the guy who considered chopping off your arm!" I barked.

" **Really? I'm pretty sure** _ **you**_ **thought of it first.** " Banno said. With that, there was a long moment of silence before I exhaled.

"... Yes. I did. If only to save you, Rainbow. Every evil act I did was to protect other people." I felt a tear go down my cheek as I began to say something I never thought I would say. "But... If I were to ever be as ruthless as Banno without the good intent that I have..." I looked to Applejack, then to Rainbow Dash, then passed a glance to Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and finally Twilight. "I want you all to put me out of my misery, then destroy the belt." I said. The girls gasped.

" **H-heh... Like that's gonna be easy.** " Banno was pretty good at hiding his cowardice through arrogance.

"Kel, we can't do that to you. You know that!" Applejack said.

"Then what choice do you have? You're just gonna let me be a monster then!?" I asked them.

"Kelly..." That's when Twilight placed a hand on my shoulder. "I once knew a pon... A _person_ , who succumbed to dark forces, but me and my friends were able to save her _without_ killing her. We were able to make her remember who she was. If you ever feel like this will happen to you... I'll make sure to free you." Twilight said. I notice her frown. I took a moment and sighed.

"Thank you. And I apologize for not helping you with your thing... As well as getting you into this mess. In fact..." That's when I thought of something. "You never actually partook in the fight." I said.

"You're right. I didn't." Twilight said.

 _So why are you lumped in with us?_ I thought. I didn't want to smirk, I didn't want to clamp my hands into fists, and I didn't want to do anything that would be a dead giveaway to what I was thinking, lest the girls conclude with the same thing. All I just said to them was something simple: "We just need to have faith now."

* * *

Flash Sentry sat by the desk of where his father would work at as Soarin' walked over to him.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Flash asked.

"Dad, I know you think Twilight killed that guy, but the evidence just isn't there." Flash said.

"How the hell did you know about this? This is supposed to be classified." Soarin' said.

"You gave the girls one phone call, right?" Flash said.

"... You gave her your number?" Soarin' asked.

"... Y-yeah." Flash blushed. "She's sort of my type, you know? Nice, smart, a little on the funny side." Flash then took out a locket. "Sort of like mom, you know?" He opened it as it showed a woman with short light blue hair tied in pigtails and dark blue skin covered by orange and gold street clothes. Flash smiled a little as Soarin' patted Flash on the shoulder. "Even though I don't know her... I miss her, you know?" Flash said. Soarin' shed a tear as he spoke up.

"I know." He said. Soarin' stretched his arms. "She's that new kid that was gonna go for the Fall Formal, right?"

"Yeah... Awfully convenient that she got arrest..." Flash then got up and blinked. "ed..." Flash then went into a thousand yard stare as Soarin' looked at him.

"Flash? Flash, you okay?" Soarin' said. In Flash's mind, thousands of pictures swirling around him. Scenes of Twilight in the school, vowing to become the next Princess of the Fall Formal, followed shortly by Sunset Shimmer, eventually playing the video of Twilight's fail on the computer. As soon as he saw a picture of the two confronting each other.

"That's it..." Flash then put away the locket.

"What's it?" Soarin' asked.

"I'm done thinking about this." Flash then straightened up his leather jacket. "It's all come together." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Soarin' asked. Flash then walked away. The only thing he said before he left was:

"Dad, my brain's in top gear now."

* * *

As Flash left the police station, he entered a black sedan with golden stripes that taper off into a lightning bolt, with the hood having a large blue shield with a lightning bolt over it, and drove off. Soarin' ran after him, only to be out of breath as soon as he got down the steps.

"Uuugh, I knew I shouldn't have given him a car..." He said.

* * *

Flash Sentry drove down the street on his car. The GPS pointing towards where Sunset Shimmer's house was.

"I'm going to make her squeal like a pig!" He said as he gripped on the steering wheel. Just then, he heard a motorcycle humming besides him. He looked to the left side of him and saw Ross and Miss Oxton, clinging onto Ross, on the Rose Attacker. Ross moved his hand downward as Flash knew what he was pantomiming. He rolled down the window.

"Flash Sentry! What are you doing up so late, love?" Miss Oxton said.

"I have to clear Twilight's name!" Flash Sentry said.

"Well, we can help. We need to go to where the guy's corpse is found and get the footage. Apparently that'll show how he really died." Ross said.

"You sure about that?" Flash asked.

"Better lead than no lead." Ross said.

"But I have a lead: Sunset." Flash said. Ross looked down a bit before speaking up.

"Well, the one we're going to is better than marching right up to someone's house and confronting them on something they'll easily deny." Ross said. Flash thought a bit about it before nodding.

"Alright, let's go. Where to?" He asked.

* * *

The Everton Independent Study Building was surrounded to the brim with cop cars as "CRIME SCENE" ticker tape strewn across the entrance way. Flash and Ross parked their vehicles a stone's throw away from the building and walked over to it.

"So... How the hell are we gonna break into the place?" Ross asked Flash.

"Easy. Watch and-" Flash tried to look for any officer he could say hello to, but the area was scarce. The cars had no lights on and the ticker tape fluttered about. Ross looked around as well.

"Where is everyone?" Miss Oxton asked.

"I dunno. Cops don't leave crime scenes unattended, especially murders." Flash said. Ross stood his ground.

"Be ready for anything." Ross said. Just then, the doors outside Everton opened up as Double Diamond walked out of it, his hands folded behind his back as he had a nice smile on.

"Welcome, welcome! I apologize for the appearance." Double Diamond said as he stepped over the chalk outline of the fat man. "Cops don't clean up after themselves."

"For good reason." Flash glared at Double Diamond. Miss Oxton walked to Double Diamond.

"I was taking two of my students on a tour to Everton. I realize the timing's a little bad, but-"

"No, don't worry! Everything's perfectly fine!" Double Diamond prepped himself up.

"He says as he stands on a crime scene." Flash Sentry rolled his eyes.

"Come in! Come in!" Double Diamond said. Flash Sentry walked around the crime scene before entering the doors, with Ross and Miss Oxton doing the same.

* * *

"You have picked a great time to take a trip here. Everton has received a huge amount of funds from a very well-versed foundation and has picked _me_ to be the overseer of the project we're working on." Double Diamond said as he walked the three down a large hallway full of windows, each either peeking into an empty lab or a padded room.

"And that project being?" Flash asked.

"A project that had been a long time in the making, but we're finally cracking the code on." Double Diamond said.

"Just tell us what it is..." Flash rolled his eyes.

"The project was based off a few observances we've made over the past few years. People would just randomly disappear from their homes and end up in different parts of... Well, do you believe in the multiverse theory?" Double Diamond turned around and stopped.

"Yeah. Every decision you make creates a different universe." That's when Double Diamond laughed at Flash's statement.

"Yes, that's the simpleton version of it, but it is just a small idea in a much grander theory. See, you may think we're crazy, but we have proof that our Earth is just one of many different worlds." Double Diamond said. Flash Sentry blinked, then glanced a bit while folding his arms.

"Okay then, what proof do you have?" Flash asked.

"Do you recall the Everton Eruption?" Double Diamond asked. Flash just raised an eyebrow.

"N-no... But it's familiar..." Flash asked.

"The Everton Eruption, that's the event when one of the Everton research faculties collapsed in on itself seventeen years ago, right?" Miss Oxton asked.

"Yes. It's been so long ago, I'm surprised someone can remember it." Double Diamond said.

"... Well, it's easy if you were in it." Oxton muttered.

"Ah... My condolences. It was as much a tragedy on Everton's part as it was on yours, Miss Oxton." Double Diamond said. Oxton just smiled and waved her hand.

"Eh, don't sweat it. It was an accident." She said. Ross noticed the muscles in Double Diamond's lips struggled to keep straight.

"So... This eruption, how does it confirm the multiverse theory?" Ross asked.

"Well, from my research, it was what happened during that very incident that confirmed it. Everton was working on a means to create teleportation from one space to another and-" Double Diamond was soon interrupted.

"And let me guess... The experiment failed and caused someone to be caught in some void?" Ross asked.

"Well, you're right about the void part. The problem was that it didn't fail. They _succeeded._ " Double Diamond said. The three looked to each other before Flash asked.

"What do you mean, _succeed_?" Flash asked.

"Imagine, if you will, a space in between spaces. A _void_... The experiment was to ensure that they could 'scoop' into the void and be flung into another space entirely. Well, they got their void..." Double Diamond said. Oxton's jaw dropped.

"You... You're telling me that... the Eruption was not a disaster but some... experiment?" Oxton asked.

"Yes. A successful one at that. The only problem is how it managed to go so horribly wrong..." Double Diamond said.

"Maybe it's because these guys were dabbling in shit that shouldn't be messed with?" Ross glared.

"I can't blame them for what they did. We all have burning questions to be answered. That's actually the project we're working on right now: Project Tataricus. Our objective is to find out why the Eruption happened and how we can improve upon it." Double Diamond said.

"..." Ross simply gave a glance towards the white-haired man.

"I can see you don't trust us. Why don't I let you guys take a stroll in the facility? They always say seeing brand new technology can open up people's eyes." Double Diamond said as he patted Ross on the back. Ross could feel Crescent Rose being pressed onto his back as he saw him smile.

"Oooh, what do I feel here?" He then let his hand go from the weapon and began to walk away. "Such splendid technology. Perhaps you could show it to one of our specialists in the Research Room? It's down the hall, to your left." He said. Ross and Oxton glanced at each other as Flash ran to catch up to Double Diamond. Ross and Oxton walked down the hall.

"So... Good guess, Ross." Oxton said.

"Wasn't a guess. Back in my world, there was a movie with a similar premise. Scientists were working on a means of teleportation and experimented with a human being..." As he walked forward, he frowned. "She never returned." Ross said.

"So... What you're thinking is something similar happened?" Oxton asked. Ross nodded.

"And... if it _is_ like that... Then I'm worried." Ross said.

"About?" Oxton asked.

"This... Eruption... How many people were lost?" Ross asked.

"It's not much Ross, only a few people." She said.

"... You think someone would be upset if they found out the true origins of this incident?" Ross asked.

"Well, I'm kinda ticked, but it's in the past and, truth be told, I'm a better person because of it." Oxton said.

"Yeah... But some people just... don't move on from stuff like that, y'know?" Ross said. Oxton then frowned.

"I know..." She said.

* * *

"Double Diamond!" Flash Sentry ran to Double Diamond before he ran out of breath. The two were in the middle of a lunch room. Double Diamond sat down on one of the tables while Flash sat parallel to him.

"So, what curiosities do you have in mind?" Double Diamond asked.

"... Foundation X... Do they have anything to do with this Golden Drive that's running around? Or Everton?" Flash asked.

"Huh... Why do you ask that?" Double Diamond shrugged.

"I dunno. It's been a few months since Golden Drive started showing up out of the blue, and your talk about other universes has me wondering if Golden Drive had anything to do with it." Flash said.

"No. We have no affiliation with Golden Drive." Double Diamond said. He then leaned in and glared. "And I wouldn't affiliate with _her_ if I were you." He said.

"Are you... threatening me?" Flash raised an eyebrow.

"No. I'm _warning_ you. Golden Drive is what we here at Foundation X call a Kamen Rider." Double Diamond said.

"Kamen? I don't think I heard the term." Flash Sentry said.

"Kamen is, in a language from another universe, Masked. Makes sense, right? The guy is masked and rides an ATV?" Double Diamond said. Flash Sentry nodded.

"But why should I not trust her? She seems to be doing good." Flash Sentry said. Double Diamond sighed and pulled out an iPad. He turned it to Flash Sentry and began to show him some video footage.

" _My name is Kamen Rider Eternal. I have the fate of the GaiaMemories in the grip of my hand._ " The video showed a man, cloaked in white armor with blue flamed gloves, a cape, and a bandolier. His mask was also white, with three prongs on the top of his helmet and golden eyes underlined with black. Standing by him were four similar people, though they looked less like the man and more like the monstrous Roidmudes that attacked the city.

"This was taken six years ago. A man calling himself Kamen Rider held an entire city hostage and nearly destroyed it before being put down." Double Diamond said.

"And what of the other guys?" Flash pointed to the four monsters standing by his side.

"No. They're not Kamen Riders. Only the man in the middle was." Double Diamond said. He then swiped to the left and displayed footage of another Kamen Rider.

" _The time has come..._ " The Kamen Rider could have been mistaken for a magician had it not been for the helmet. He had white robes with gold linings, while his helmet seemed to look like an orange jewel carved out to resemble a face, with silver lines to make out eyes. He had a golden ring on which he had placed over his belt. As he did that, the sky became dark as a solar eclipse seemingly came out of nowhere.

"This was three years ago. A man discovered magic, declared himself a Kamen Rider, and created an eclipse for a dark ritual that nearly killed hundreds, if not thousands. This was also stopped." Double Diamond said.

"So... if we leave Golden Drive unchecked, she could cause some damage?" Flash Sentry asked. Double Diamond chuckled.

"Worse..." He then played another video. This time, it was a reddish-orange Kamen Rider with golden horns running out of the flames. Flash had no time to pick up any additional features as vines began to emerge from the Rider's chest before overtaking his entire body. As the vines disappeared, the Rider had changed to something barely resembling a Kamen Rider. It was a monster who kept its red armor, but added a yellow plated chest. Replacing the Viking horns were two long black ram-like horns. Its hellish blue eyes seared itself into Flash's soul.

" _KAZURABA!_ " It roared as it continued its run unfazed.

"She'll become a monster if left unchecked." As the video played, the monster called out something, that's when he saw another Kamen Rider. This one was wearing orange armor not unlike that of a samurai and had golden pointed horns.

"Wait, that one's fighting the monster..." Flash pointed to the orange Rider as the two clashed. "So... Does that mean there's _good_ Kamen Riders?" Flash asked. Double Diamond nodded.

"Yes... But..." He closed his eyes and played another video, interrupting the fight between the samurai and the monster. In its place were two other Riders fighting, or rather, the climax of a fight.

" _You'd say you'd do whatever it took for my friend, right?_ " The Kamen Rider that was talking was brightly colored compared to the other three Flash saw, all blue with golden shoulder pads and glittery bits of silver to resemble stars. His helmet resembled that as well, with two golden horns looking like two meteors. He held a rod and began to strike at what appeared to be an astronaut, though the similar eye shapes confirmed that it was a Kamen Rider. " _Then do what has to be done! Die for me, Kisaragi!_ " The blue Rider shouted as he leaped in the air and kicked the astronaut.

The kick was so hard that it actually changed the astronaut's armor, changing from a bulky silver armor to a slimmer, white one. The blue Rider picked up the other Rider and with one punch, knocked all the energy out from him and reducing the astronaut to a human form... It was something that caused Flash to bite his lip.

The rider was a teenager who looked to be Flash's age. Tears rolled from Flash's eyes as he saw the teen fall in front of what appeared to be his friends. Double Diamond stopped the video.

"It always happens... Riders will die to other Riders. It's a cruel game if you ever decide to play it. That's why you must stay away from this Golden Drive at all costs." Double Diamond said as he closed the video and put away his iPad. "Kamen Riders... They've done nothing but destroy. Foundation X always comes across them, as if we're inevitably tied to a cross of fire. The best I can do is to get you away from that cross." With that, Double Diamond walked away. Flash shook a bit before he got up and looked around.

* * *

"So, Miss Oxton... The Wonderbolts. What about them?" Ross asked Miss Oxton as they went down the hall.

"Well... The Wonderbolts are an elite group of people who have powers and use them to protect people." Miss Oxton said.

"So... How come you're not fighting the Roidmudes?" Ross asked.

"Come again?" Miss Oxton asked.

"The Roidmudes... These robots that stop time. You know the massacre at CHS?" Ross asked.

"Oh... Yeah." Miss Oxton frowned. "The Headmaster brought that up as a reason for my presence at CHS. To prevent that from happening again."

"... That's the reason for _my_ presence too." Ross said.

"So... The Headmaster sent you too..." Miss Oxton said. She then stretched her arms and placed the hands at the back of her head. "You must be pretty cool for him to notice you." She said.

"Yeah... Hey, Miss Oxton, do you have any idea what this guy looks like?" Ross asked.

"Hmmm... Nah. He just sends us messages through our Principal, Mr. Rainheart." Miss Oxton said.

"Ah... Thought you'd have an idea." Ross said. Oxton looked to him.

"Do _you_ have an idea?" She asked.

"Yeah... But it's more of a familiar feeling than anything else... You know when you have déjà vu, but you're so sure that you aren't experiencing something a second time?" Ross asked.

"Mmm... Sorta, love..." She said.

"I feel that too..." Ross frowned as he could hear a voice in his head:

" _You want to come to my school?_ "

He slowly smiled, a sense of joy entering his body.

"As for why we weren't fighting these Roidmudes... There's something a little more pressuring that we face." Oxton said.

"Huh?" Ross asked.

"Not sure if you noticed, but after the massacre, monsters began coming outta the woodwork. We Wonderbolts were prepared for _them_ more than we're prepared for these Roidmudes." She said.

"Monsters... You mean, the Creatures of Grimm?" Ross asked.

"Huh, so you know of them too." Oxton said. She then smiled. "We could use another member. Cam's just our eye in the sky, so our active members are just three right now." She said.

"You... want me to join the Wonderbolts?" Ross asked.

"Yep! I'm sure you can be as great a member as I am!" Oxton said.

"Thanks... but... I'm having trouble fighting my own monsters." Ross said.

"The Roidmudes." Oxton patted Ross on the back.

"No... It's my friends. Both of them." Ross said.

"Don't worry, Ross. You'll be able to handle it. First, we'll clear Kelly's name, then _you'll_ deal with your other friend." She said.

"What about you?" Ross asked.

"Well, this is a problem _you_ need to handle. I'm acting mostly as a security guard for the Formal." Oxton said.

"So what am I supposed to do!? She's doing bad things because of this stupid crown and I need to stop her!" Ross asked her.

"Well... She's your friend, right? I'm sure you can remind her of that." Oxton said.

"... I guess I could..." Ross said. That's when Ross stopped and began to sniff. "You smell that?" Ross asked.

"Y-yeah. I do..." Miss Oxton then walked over to a janitor's closet and slowly opened the door. The corpse of a police officer flopped out as Oxton jumped out. Ross took out Crescent Rose as it transformed into its scythe mode.

"Well, well, well... To think I'd keep this hospitable charade for a little while longer." Ross and Oxton turned to face Double Diamond, with half a dozen people wearing the Foundation X uniform standing behind him.

"What _is_ this!?" Oxton asked.

"Just someone whose nose was getting too close to the truth. I'm disappointed our janitor just stuffed the corpse instead of cleaning it like we requested. Well, I guess I'll have to take out the trash myself. Men!" Double Diamond said. The Foundation X members all took out what appeared to be USBs with a ribcage design, all having the same symbol of a sinister looking mask in the shape of an M. They all pressed on a button located on the USB.

 **MASQUERADE!**

They all shoved it into their necks as the USB changed their skin and face to resemble a black mask being laid over them. Its designs bearing resemblance to a ribcage, with some of the middle bones bent to resemble the shape of eyes.

"Oh, and don't worry about your friend. We'll take care of him as well..." Double Diamond smirked as Ross and Oxton posed, ready to fight.

* * *

Flash looked around the facility until he came across a door labeled SECURITY. Looking at the door, he gained a smirk and entered the room. He looked around for any computers or server consoles in the dark area. That's when he found it. A computer console with a glowing blue screen. He went over to it and scrubbed through footage from a few hours ago.

 _"Hello there. You remember me, don't you? It's been such a long time since we last saw each other..."_ Flash could see the footage of the white-haired man in black crocodile leather approach Shigekiyo. " _This place held me prisoner for seventeen damn long years. I really don't want you to be subject to the same experiments I was put through._ " Flash raised an eyebrow. Seventeen years... Where has he heard that timespan before?

He saw more of the footage, such as the man healing Shigekiyo and even offering him a bar of solid gold. That was before Shigekiyo seemingly rejected his offer and got his heart ripped out. Flash retched a bit before remembering why he came. He took out a flash drive from his jacket, a standard requirement for students to have in the digital age nowadays, and plugged it into the computer, copying the footage over to his USB Drive. He then pulled it out and turned around, only to find Starlight Glimmer behind him.

"Ah!" He screamed a bit before Starlight patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax, it's okay." Starlight said.

"Who are you? Are you with Foundation X?" Flash asked. She shook her head.

"I work for Everton. I'm currently heading Project Tataricus." She said.

"... The Eruption..." Flash muttered.

"Yes, I'm trying to find out the cause of it." Starlight said.

"So you can improve upon their failures, right?" Flash asked.

"Well... No. Double Diamond sees some potential in improving on a broken formula, but me? I just... I just want closure." Starlight said.

"Closure? For what?" Flash asked. Starlight then unveiled her white lab coat and took out what looked to be a slab of black plastic with silver lining the edges of it. She gave it to Flash as he looked at the prominent feature: a golden knife just hanging by the side of an octagonal gap.

"People have lost so much that day. I need to find out why and how so that these mistakes never happen again. One day, you'll understand." Starlight said as Flash observed the device. She then gave him one more device: an orange padlock. "Until then, use these to keep yourself alive. The world's growing more and more dangerous by the second and eventually the very foundations of our city will fall." She said.

"... Is this a threat?" Flash asked.

"No. It's a warning." Starlight Glimmer said.

"You guys always insist it as such." Flash said. Starlight then smiled.

"I want to prepare you for when it falls." With that, she turned around and left the room. Flash ran after her, getting out into the halls as well. He looked around. Seemed she had vanished.

"Hey!" Flash turned around and saw a bulky security guard come to him. He backed away, then turned around and ran. He would have gotten far...

 **FLASH**

Had he not felt as though his legs were not weighed down by a strange force. The weird part was that he felt this effect a couple of times before. Once when his school was attacked by a squad of killer robots, the other when Golden Drive made her debut.

He turned around and, sure enough, he saw the guard change his body to that of a robot. His body had four pink tubes that connected themselves to four large silos on his shoulders. There were several holes peppered around its body, though lined up in a straight line, five on his chest, three on his stomach, with a green gem centered in the middle of the body. It had only one green eye in its dead center.

"Found the intruder... Now, to eliminate him." He said as he thrusted his body. Flash suddenly had darts pierce his back and knocking him down, though the density caused him to fall slowly. He screamed in pain as the robot marched forward, ready to send another volley. Flash tried to push himself up, but the pressure of the Slowdown kept him down. "Don't struggle... It's only gonna make it worse." He said. As Flash grunted, he gripped onto the padlock that he held in his hand. As he did, he pressed a button that made the lock pop open.

 **ORANGE!**

Suddenly, an orange wave of light particles flashed from the lock, pushing the Roidmude back and cancelling its Slowdown.

"H-How are you able to..." The Roidmude looked at Flash as he got up, holding the open lock. Flash then looked at the slab that was also given to him. He recalled how the device seemed similar to the belts that the Riders he saw in the videos had.

With a grunt, he slapped the device on his waist, creating a yellow strap that came out of one side of the belt and towards the other side. With the orange lock, he placed it onto the belt and closed the lock. As he did, it created a Japanese trumpet melody.

"Y-you're a..." The Roidmude muttered as Flash just glared. There was now one thing to left to try out on the device: The knife attached to the belt. He flicked the knife, cutting the orange padlock and splitting it in two, showing two pictures on the padlock's top and bottom halves. The top half had what appeared to be an orange cut down the middle while the bottom half had a sword with its blade being what appeared to be a slice of orange. As he cut the lock, a small splash of orange juice came out of the lock.

 **SOIYA! ORANGE SLICE! CUT THROUGH... TWICE!**

Appearing in Flash's hands were two daggers, as shown on the padlock's picture. Flash looked at the sword's orange blade.

"Seriously?" He asked. He then snapped his attention to the Roidmude as he ran towards him. Flash ran his daggers through the Roidmude, causing minimal sparks. The Roidmude backed up before he grunted.

"No... You're not a Kamen Rider..." He asked.

"No. And I will never be that kind of monster. This is _my_ game now... and the rules just changed!" Flash declared as he rushed forward. The Roidmude just scoffed and fired his darts at Flash again. While Flash managed to end up being fast enough to cut down the darts, several of them _did_ hit him in the legs, causing him to go down. The Roidmude walked over to Flash, picked him up, and fired point blank at his chest. Flash coughed up some blood as the Roidmude tossed him away. The Roidmude then flexed his chest as the pink covers of his silo opened up, revealing four warheads.

"Now... die!" The Roidmude shouted as he fired the warheads at Flash. As they hit him, the missiles exploded. The Roidmude chuckled and turned around, only to cock his head back and notice the smoke clear. "What!?" To his surprise, Flash was _not_ a smoldering pile of gibs, rather, a new person appeared, one he hasn't seen before.

The woman had blonde hair, swept downwards to partially cover one of her eyes. Her uncovered eye was blood red. Other than the inhuman eye, though, her appearance was fairly human. Her clothing was a white dress with purple inner sleeves and a brown belt slung around her waist. She turned to Flash and waved her hand, his wounds closing up and healing. Her face looked familiar to Flash, even if her hair and skin were different coloring.

"M-mom?" Flash asked. She shook her head.

"Be warned..." She said to him as she gave him her hand. Flash could hear her soft voice echo in his head. He then struggled to get up. "You're about to go down a path that is not to be taken by normal humans... If you wish to continue, then allow me to help you." Her red eye flashed as a vine began to grow near her feet, growing large purple fruit. She then picked up the fruit and gripped it tightly until it changed into an identical orange padlock.

"Hey! This doesn't concern you!" The Roidmude shouted.

"Silence." The woman said as she flicked her wrist, knocking the Roidmude down with an invisible force. She continued to look to Flash. "Now... Take this Lockseed, and you will continue down this path as a Kamen Rider, destined to protect your friends, your family, and even your world from the threats that will try to dye everything in their image..." She said. Flash just looked at the padlock in her hands...

Before he slapped it out of her hand.

"No." He said.

"What?" The woman asked.

"I'm not gonna succumb to being a monster like those other Riders. If I am to protect my friends and family, I'll do so as a human!" He said. The woman merely frowned.

"Have you've seen your own limitations? If you continue to fight like this, you'll die." She said.

"I don't care. I've seen the end results of being a Rider and I can safely say that I'd rather die a human than go down that path." Flash said. The woman merely shed a tear before nodding.

"If that is what you wish..." She said. As she tried to leave, Flash handed her the USB.

"While you're here though... If I _am_ to die, fulfill my last wish... Give this to my father." Flash said.

"You..." The Roidmude growled as the woman nodded. She created a zipper in the middle of a wall. The zipper seemed to be a portal to another world, one filled with forests and trees. She walked through it as the zipper closed. "You just made the dumbest decision of your life! Now you really _are_ gonna die!"

"Did you not hear what I said? If it means not being a monster like what I've seen, then I'll gladly die protecting the people I love!" With that, Flash rushed forward, daggers plunging right into the Roidmude's warheads.

* * *

Ross and Oxton pounded their way out of the crowd of Masqueraded Foundation X members, Ross cutting them down with his scythe and Oxton shooting at them with her pistols. The people who were hit went down before fading away into black smoke, not unlike the Grimm. Despite this though, Ross winced.

More Masquerades rushed in to attack, firing guns towards the two. Ross ran in the way of Oxton, taking the brunt of the bullets.

"Ross!" Oxton said, though she noticed that he was unscathed. Despite this, she rushed in, firing her pistols before twirling them to have them cool down. The men who shot at Ross went down, also dissolving into smoke. She then rushed at the remaining crowd, only to disappear and reappear behind them. Shortly afterwards, she disappeared in a small air bubble before reappearing besides Ross. She smirked.

"You guys need a time out." That's when the members noticed a bomb planted by their feet. Sadly, it was too late as the bomb blew them to smithereens. As the mixture of blue and black smoke cleared, Double Diamond remained. Oxton aimed her pistols at him.

"Give it up, Double Diamond! There's nowhere for you to run!" She said. Double Diamond just chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, believe me. I have no intention of running." Double Diamond then walked towards the two. "You see, Double Diamond _already_ ran. I'm just here to cover for him." He said. Ross backed away and readied his scythe.

"So... That cop... You just set him up for us to find..." Oxton said.

"Yep. Nosy people need to be punished." With a smirk, his body dissolved into a blur of pixels. Ross fired at the blur as they shifted to a shape that was more familiar to Ross: a Spider-Class Roidmude. The Roidmude flicked his wrists as Slowdown commenced. However, Ross ran to the Roidmude and began to slash at him with the scythe. To his surprise, though, there was a blur of blue light as Oxton joined the battle, punching the Roidmude along with Ross' slashes.

"Miss Oxton? You can move in Slowdown too?" Ross asked.

"Well, I would say move at super-fast speeds, but-" Ross just nodded.

"I get it." Ross knocked the Roidmude back with his scythe. "Our speed is able to push past the Slowdown, enabling us to move like they do." Ross said.

"So... these are the Roidmudes you're talking about?" Oxton asked.

"Yeah." The Roidmude ran towards them, only for Ross and Oxton to fire at him with their guns.

"Well, I'm glad to have a speedy guy by my side. Codename's Tracer." She extended her hand to him. "We should get one for you too. Rose is already taken sadly." She smirked.

"... How about Ruby?" Ross asked as he shook her hand.

"That works!" Tracer said.

Just then, the Roidmude rushed at the two, grabbing them by the throats. As he held them by the throats, their skin slowly began to change color from the bottom up, turning from their normal skin color to a more reddish color, akin to a rash.

"I'm going to silence you two..." He said. Just then, he noticed a red laser heading towards him. "What the!?" He noticed it too late as it hit him, causing the particles to die down and knocking Ross and Tracer to the ground. The two struggled to get up as a man walked to the two of them. The man had tanned skin with hazel eyes and was wearing a white button shirt with a pocket and brown cargo pants. He had short black hair and was wearing a necklace holding three dog tags, one with an upside down lightning bolt engraved to it, the other a shooting star, and the last being a heart with wings. He held a red and silver laser pistol. Tracer looked up.

"Rose! You're here!" Tracer said. "Where's Shadow?"

"Shadow's busy taking care of some mooks outside the building. You really got yourself in trouble here. Fortunately, I'm here now." Rose said. He then stepped forward, his black army boots pressing against the floor.

"Another one!? Well, might as well just kill you all!" The Roidmude asked. Rose flinched somewhat. Ross could definitely see something in Rose. A sense of fear, perhaps. However, Rose quickly glared at the Roidmude before giving a smirk. Ross looked at the man's smirk and could feel that it was just one shade away from being an outright sadistic smile.

"I was always curious about one thing..." Rose stopped walking and pulled out a pink device from his wrist. While mostly pink, it had a blue LCD screen with three small buttons underneath. "Does a machine like yourself ever experience fear?" He asked.

"Of course! We Roidmudes are able to copy human emotion!" He said.

"... Good." Rose held the device as he placed his free hand on top of it. Ross could see a faint, reddish aura come from him. At first, Ross assumed it was akin to his Aura and that a Semblance would be shown, but he noticed the aura had tiny squares flowing from it, almost pixelly in a sense. Soon, his entire body began to morph into these pixels.

"What the hell?" The Roidmude commented. Rose's body trembled. Before Ross or the Roidmude could comment, the man just gave an anguished shout:

" **BIO HYBRID DNA… FULL CHARGE!** " The device soon spread out golden pixels as they spread out all over Rose. As the pixels began to disperse, Rose was gone. In his place was a woman dressed in a pink latex jumpsuit with a lotus-style cut on her stomach. She had pink leather gloves that reached to her shoulder as well as cables that wrapped around her arm. She also wore black thigh-high latex boots and a white petal cape. The last major detail, aside from the giant syringe that stuck behind her head, was a pink mask that hung over her face save for her mouth. The mask looked like that of a blooming rose.

" **BioRosemon!** " She declared herself.

"What the hell?" Ross echoed the Roidmude's remark for a completely different reason. Back in his world, this kind of rose monster was actually in a cartoon show about kids bonding with digital monsters. To see a real life version of it was surreal compared to the Roidmudes.

"Ruby, allow me to introduce you to Rose. As you can tell from the name, he turns into a rose woman!" Tracer said.

"... Please tell me there's more to it than just that." Ross said

" **THORN WHIP!** " BioRosemon swung the cables on her arm at the Roidmude. As they connected with the Roidmude, the whips began to send off electrical shocks to it. Sparks flew a bit as the Roidmude staggered back.

"D-Damn it... At this rate..." The Roidmude then took out a toy car, one that had a cockroach mounted on it with a long cape. He placed the car inside of him. As it sucked itself into the plate showing his number, a long brown cape resembling a cockroach's shell sprang out of his heck, followed shortly by his bald face being obscured by a bronze cage that concealed the entire head. He held a scythe of his own. Ross remembered this type of Roidmude as a member of the Reaper Legion.

" **Such an unsightly view. A weed amidst my beautiful garden of flowers. I'll do everything in my power to pluck you out!** " BioRosemon took her cable and cracked it, creating thorns on it as well as straightened it out. " **ROSE RAPIER!** " BioRosemon swung her newly made rapier at the scythe as the Roidmude clashed at it.

While the scythe was easily the larger weapon of the two, the rapier managed to out maneuver the scythe several times before impaling right into the palm of the Roidmude and giving him another shock, causing him to drop his scythe. Before the Roidmude could reach at it, BioRosemon stomped on it with one of her heels, breaking it. She then smirked to the Roidmude as she swung her whip at the Roidmude, consistently shocking him as he grunted in pain.

" **Do you not see the beauty of my power?** " BioRosemon held her hand to her chest, revealing a pink jewel as it began to glow. " **Humans are so arrogant to believe they can achieve this power with cheap robotics.** " The jewel began to fly off his chest and hover outwards as she cupped the jewel with her hands. " **You're better off being scrap!** " BioRosemon's outfit then exploded, her body engulfed in a pink light as she shouted out: " **FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION!** "

She pushed her hands out as energy came out in the form of a large, pink beam that shot towards the Roidmude. The beam engulfed the Roidmude, reducing his body into rose petals as his Core, 019, slowly crumbled to dust. The beam hit the wall where it caused a hole to be made. BioRosemon smirked before her body jerked. Orange 1s and 0s began to overtake BioRosemon as her body dissolved, leaving behind Rose. He then fell over as Tracer ran to grab him, her skin and Ross' skin reverting back to normal. Ross got up as soon as he heard Rose heavily breathing.

"It's okay, love. Rose is just tuckered out. It takes a lot out of him to fight." Tracer said. Ross only had his jaw drop. He had so many questions to ask... But as he saw the hole in the wall, he realized that this wasn't the time.

He saw Flash staggering against what he presumed to be his would be assassin.

* * *

As Flash stabbed into the warheads, the Roidmude just chuckled.

"Fool! You fell right into my trap!" He then fired darts point blank at Flash's chest, knocking him down. As he tried to get up, the wall behind him was blasted apart. He didn't take a glance, focused more on defeating the Roidmude. His hand hovered over the belt before flicking the knife twice.

 **SOIYA! ORANGE SPLIT!**

With blood dripping from his mouth, Flash held his two daggers as they glowed, the aura of an orange shining behind them. He raised them up and then slashed downwards. Despite being the stronger one of the two, the slashes did some damage to two of the four silos. Flash staggered and then flicked the knife once more.

 **SOIYA! ORANGE SPLASH!**

He then stabbed one of his daggers right into the green gem on the Roidmude's chest. Sparks flew from the Roidmude's wounds.

"Hhhnnn... How... How are you still alive!?" The Roidmude growled.

"Because... I'm will not give up!" He tried to plunge the other dagger, but he fell down, only having enough strength to hold onto the dagger inside the Roidmude.

"Well, I guess this is game over then..." The Roidmude was about to strike Flash when his head was suddenly blown off by a sniper rifle. His body disintegrated into rose petals as his Core, 091, floated away. Flash fell down onto the ground, his daggers transforming into orange juice as Ross ran over to him.

"Flash, you idiot! You coulda gotten yourself killed!" Ross said. He winced at the many darts impaled on Flash and the blood from his mouth. "We gotta get you to a hospital!" Ross said. Flash shook his head.

"N-no... I need... I need to help Twilight..." Flash said.

"You can't help her if you're dead!" Ross said. That's when Oxton entered the room, Rose on her back.

"Ruby, what's going... Oh God!" She gasped upon seeing Flash. "What happened, love?!" She asked.

"He took on a Roidmude, that's what happened." Ross said. That's when Flash placed his hand on Ross' shoulder.

"I... I found it... And I took the footage..." Flash said.

"That's wonderful! But... we really need to get you patched up." Oxton said. Ross sighed.

"I'll call an ambulance." Ross said as he took out his phone.

* * *

The girls were fast asleep as I looked to the moonlight shining through the window in our jail cell. I looked down to Banno. Not once did I ever think of me using him to bust me or the girls out. And quite frankly, that was for the better.

That's when a door opened up as Soarin' entered with a key.

"Well, I have some good news. An anonymous tip left us with a USB containing video footage of Shigekiyo's death. I can't really explain it myself, but my conclusion from seeing the footage is that the reason he died of a heart attack is not due to the shock, but because someone literally ripped out his heart and crushed it." ... I took a few moments to realize Soarin' was, for the first time since meeting him, being very serious about a sentence that would otherwise pass off as one of his 'gushing about Silverbolt' moments.

"We also caught some chatter between the murderer and the victim. Seems you and the girls were onto something. Apparently Everton had called for this guy and from the conversation, they seemed to be partaking in human experiments. Our culprit, or at least our lead, isn't _you_ , thus, you and the girls are free to go." He said as he opened up our cell. That's when the phone rang. He ran over to answer.

"Hello? ... What? Shit, I was just talking about that place... I'll be right over." I could hear Soarin's end of the conversation. I blinked, then looked to the sleeping girls. I gave a warm smile. We're free, and I didn't need to do anything. But it _did_ make me think:

Who cleared our names?

* * *

The Woman of the Beginning sighed. She did as the boy ordered her to, much to her chagrin. For whatever reason, he refused to be a Kamen Rider, denouncing them as monsters. She had no idea why he thought that, but she knew that his mind was made up. There was a smile to her though.

He wasn't going to be binding him to the road of a Kamen Rider.

She stood in the middle of a closed art museum. She had visited this place a month or two ago, if only to help an actual Kamen Rider. She frowned though. She clearly wasn't the Rider the Woman of the Beginning was expecting, but she had her faith. She remembered using her ability to create cracks to this world to drop off an incomplete Lock Vehicle to the Rider in the hopes that she would complete it. The Rider seemed to handle things very well, though.

The Roidmude threat was diminishing each and every day, though another sigh left her as she realized that the worst is yet to come. She could only shed a tear from her unnatural red eye and look at the painting of the King of the Forest. In particular, she focused on the red dot. To the naked eye, it seemed to just be a red dot. To someone who stared at it long enough, though, it became a sort of magic eye picture.

Next to the majestic white deer stood a man in silver armor with a white cape behind him. He had blonde hair almost in the same shading as hers and like much like her, he had one natural eye and one red eye. She looked at this painting longingly, especially at the man. She then created a zipper portal behind her and just frowned.

"Wait for me, Kouta... We'll save you soon..."

And with that, she left the empty museum as if she never entered.

* * *

Flashes of red and blue flooded the area as police and ambulance trucks stationed themselves outside of Everton's building. One of the cops exited the area.

"We found some bodies. They were cops." He said. Soarin' sighed.

"Get some people to extract them. We'll announce their deaths in the morning." He said. He looked to Spitfire. "Take over for me." She nodded and went forward. Soarin', meanwhile, went to his son, who was on a stretcher, bandages applied to his body.

"Dad, I know what you're going to say but..." Flash could see his father shake his head.

"You disobeyed my orders, recklessly went into a dangerous place, and almost got yourself killed in the process." Soarin' gave Flash a glare.

"But I-"

"All for the purpose of finding out the truth." He then lightly hugged Flash. "I'm proud of you, son."

"... Thank you, dad..." Flash said. Soarin' let go of Flash as the latter noticed the former's eyes shedding. "Y-you're crying!" Flash chuckled.

"N-no... it's liquid pride." The two then laughed.

* * *

Starlight Glimmer walked down the warehouse as several Foundation X members were unloading cargo. As she did, she noticed someone behind her.

"Starlight... I'm not surprised you're the last one to evacuate Everton." Double Diamond said. Starlight turned around.

"I'm sorry, but that place was my facility. I didn't want to abandon it but..." She muttered.

"I told you to leave immediately. _Someone_ was gonna investigate what happened with the experiments. Then all the hard work on Project Tataricus would have been for naught." Double Diamond said.

"I know..." Starlight said.

"I also can't help but notice our countermeasure against the Roidmudes is gone as well." Double Diamond approached Starlight.

"Must have been lost in the confusion." Starlight said.

"Or... It could have been given away." Double Diamond then revealed a phone which played footage of Starlight giving away the belt to Flash. "You let this man get away. Why?" He asked.

"... You and I aren't the only ones hurt by the Everton Eruption. I researched all the names of the people lost to that disaster... That boy lost his mom to that awful experiment. I consider giving him the Frubask Driver an apology of sorts." She said.

"And do you think he'll forgive you when he finds out your role in this?" Double Diamond asked.

"... That's what I want to know." With that, Starlight left. Double Diamond just sighed.

"You know, I could just erase her for you..." An eerie and sinister voice rang behind Double Diamond as a purple-skinned man with combed back brown hair edging off into a braided pony tail approached him. He had tiny golden eyes, arched eyebrows, sported a constant evil grin, and wore the same Foundation X uniform as Double Diamond.

"No. Leave her. When the police come for us, she'll be our scapegoat. No need to kill her just yet." Double Diamond said. He then glared at her. "Starlight Glimmer... What _is_ your end game?"

* * *

Rose slowly awoke on Tracer's lap as she ruffled up his hair. The two stood on top of a rooftop a block away from the Everton building.

"Hey, Rosie..." She whispered.

"T-tracer..." Rose said.

"Don't worry. The cops are handling this now. You can rest." She said.

"Good..." Rose said.

"Hey, there's this guy I think would be an amazing member to our team. His name's Ruby and..." Tracer spoke to him.

"Ruby you say?" That's when Tracer heard a voice she had not heard all day. She turned to see a woman who had a gray mask concealing half her face with two small slits on each side of the mask. She wore a white long coat with a black tank top underneath and a belt slung over her shoulder. A white and gold belt held up her black leather pants as she wore high heels. Contrasting the cool outfit was a cute black bow on her head.

"Yeah, Shadow. He's pretty good at fighting and can move fast like I can!" Tracer said.

"Yeah... he could be some help against those robots." Rose said as he got off of Tracer's lap, sitting upright.

"Tell me, does this Ruby hold a scythe?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah, he does! Well, it's also a gun but..." Tracer sheepishly giggled.

"... I want to meet this Ruby for myself." Shadow glared.

* * *

Ross drove back to Sunset's residence as he yawned. As he entered the door, he saw Sunset's mom arrive.

"Ah, Ross, you're back." She said. "Did you find out what you set out for?"

"Yeah... I'm gonna save Sunset Shimmer, but I'm gonna do it by being her friend." Ross said. Sunset's mom just smiled.

"That would be wonderful." She said.

* * *

I took the girls back to the school via the Tridoron. They seemed to have been sleeping rather soundly all things considered. I couldn't blame them. They're still teenagers, they needed the sleep.

I placed the girls in individual beds in the library. At least they'll be ready for school when morning hits. Before going to sleep, I looked towards the falling moon. That's when I heard a preppy tune followed shortly by a ding dong. Despite the loud song of the Colorful Commercial Shift Car, the girls remained asleep. I smirked.

" **What have you been planning, Kelly?** " Banno asked.

"Well, Banno, yesterday, when I caught the boys spying on Twilight, I had Colorful Commercial follow them and whoever sent them to do it in the first place. I doubt the boys are smart enough to do things on their own volition." I said.

" **So, you're not as dumb as you make yourself out to be...** " Banno said.

"Well, I inherited Ryoma's genius, after all." I chuckled before I transformed into Gold Drive, twisting the key twice to shift to my control. As I did, Colorful Commercial went to me as I plugged it into the Shift Brace. That's when I saw in my HUD everything the Shift Car recorded since yesterday.

I saw it follow the boys around, only to stop by Sunset Shimmer.

"Bingo." I said. The Shift Car followed Sunset as I saw her receive the very footage she'd use to sabotage Twilight's reputation.

" _I'll crush you yet, Twilight Sparkle..._ " She muttered. That's when I saw, in the corner of the footage, a sleeping Ross. I frowned slightly before I skipped the footage. There, I saw the battle between me and Shigekiyo in full detail. However, I saw Sunset pass by the field, only to see us. She then proceeded to get her camera out and record the footage. I smirked. I caught her. Finally... However, the story didn't end there. Soon, I was able to see Colorful Commercial follow Sunset down to a dark area of the downtown area. That's when Sunset encountered this emo goth douche.

Pale skin, red lips, bleached hair, leather? Was he _trying_ to pass for a Vampire LARP? Perhaps he _was_ and some merchant got him a one way ticket to some pony world. Though, I noticed an air of him. He didn't _feel_ like a Displaced like Ross or me. Rather, someone of a more powerful persuasion. Perhaps it was because I was reminded of the Wiseman, a villain from Kamen Rider Wizard, or perhaps it was the way he talked.

" _Sunset... I'm glad to have encountered you again._ " The man said.

" _I thought our deal was done._ " Sunset said.

" _It is, but I want to make another one..._ " The edgy dude said.

" _Not interested._ " Sunset said.

" _Oh, you will be... Because the offer and the price are right up your alley._ " I raised an eyebrow. The hell was he? Some drug dealer?

" _Oh yeah? What is it?_ " Sunset asked.

" _I noticed you recorded that fight between the Displaced, and I can't help but feel like I need to liberate my fellow Displaced in some way. So, I figured to... make it so that he had an accident. That'll be_ my _end of the bargain._ " ... Did he just imply that _he_ killed Shigekiyo? My breathing shallowed. I realized I wasn't dealing with some punk or emo. This was a psychopath.

" _Hmm... Then I can send in the evidence and have it so that Twilight and her loser friends did the deed... I like it. But... what of the price?_ " Sunset asked.

" _Oh, it's something you and I both want. The invasion of Equestria... That world made you suffer and they've also made_ me _suffer. It would only made sense if you repaid the favor and made Equestria suffer twofold. Snuff out the light, and I will be in your debt..._ " He pulled out and showed what seemed to be a dagger, with the blade bent to a wavy pattern, to Sunset. Colorful Commercial was unable to look closer at the dagger, but I was able to tell from its golden detailing that it could definitely pass for a magical artifact. He put the dagger away as Sunset nodded.

" _Very well, but do note that I'm doing this not for you or your power, but for my sake. Celestia has long denied me my rightful place and I will make her suffer for it!_ " Sunset said.

" _She had denied me my place too... Make her suffer for both our sake._ " He then puffed into a pile of gray smoke.

" **Well, it seems the plot thickens...** " Banno chuckled. I nodded in agreement. I thought I'd be dealing with some Regina George-style bitch. But no. I'm dealing with someone much worse.

I'm dealing with a full blown villain in the making.

* * *

Ross then went upstairs, only to find Sunset fast asleep on her bed. Ross frowned, went over to her, and brushed her hair a little. That's when he noticed that Sunset's desktop computer was still on. Ross took a gulp before walking over and moving the mouse just a bit. There, he saw a video editing program where footage of a fight was seen. The fight between Kelly and the supposed Displaced that died. He blinked, then noticed the fight seemed to be in medias res, as the girls joined the fray already.

That's when he noticed the undo button highlighted. He clicked on it, only to find that the video expanded. He pressed play. The first line of dialogue pierced his heart:

" _ **This is a race, Kelly. Who can kill who the fastest? Me... or you?**_ "

"Kelly, of course you were fighting him... Why would I be so stupid to assume you killed someone..." Ross muttered. That's when he saw a short, chubby guy. He noticed the footage was recorded from the bleachers.

" _Found you..._ "

" _Who the fuck are you?_ "

" _I think you should know by now._ "

From there, the battle broke out, with the fat man being the instigator. He then clicked the redo button and realized that the exchange was cut.

"Sunset... No..." Ross realized _why_ it was cut.

"Uuuugh... Ross?" That's when Ross heard the sound of a groggy Sunset Shimmer. Ross turned around, only to notice she was now wide awake, well aware of Ross being in front of her computer on her software. "Ross... What are you doing?" She glared at Ross. Ross could only look like a deer in headlights

"... Sunset... Did you make it look like Kelly killed someone?" Ross asked.

"Of course not! I made it look like _Twilight_ killed someone. You should know by now that this is a dog-eat-dog competition." Sunset said.

"... So... You finally show your true colors." Ross asked.

"Yeah. It's getting tiring playing goody-two-shoes around you, especially when you keep snooping behind my back!" She said. Ross could only frown as the memories of Mercury's betrayal play in his head. "Besides, what are you going to do about this? I'll just play innocent if you bring this up to the Principal!" Sunset said.

"No... I won't. I'm going to free you from the crown's influence. You're being corrupted. That's why you're rude." Ross said.

"... Heh... You really think that? Hah! The crown isn't what made me who I am. It's _me_ who made me who I am! My desires, my ambitions, my passion... All of it is what made me into the person I am! You really think a cheap plastic crown was responsible for my attitude? You really _must_ be a dumbass for coming to that conclusion! No wonder it was so easy to fake being friends with you! You're just some naïve brat!" Sunset said. Ross couldn't control the tears that came from his eyes. What was worse was that he felt this exact pain before... Or rather, _Ruby_ did.

The pain of betrayal.

Ross, however, then remembered the anger that came from it. He remembered how the act of betrayal cost people their lives. People he... no... people that _Ruby_ cared about, dead because of the monsters she thought were her friends. He remembered all of Ruby's suffering, all of Ruby's torment, all of Ruby's despair. All wrapped up into one emotion.

That's when Ross gripped his scythe. He was going to do something he would definitely regret. Ross glared at Sunset Shimmer. This was something Ruby Rose would _never_ do. This would be something _he_ would never do.

But when confronting a mean girl like Sunset Shimmer, what choice did he have?


	7. Who Will Fall?

_Fire…_

 _The smoke choked out the young pony's vision, to the point where she could only see the dancing flames that she had caused. The pony looked around._

 _It was meant to be a simple spark. How did she managed to cause a massive fire?_

 _"Mom!?" She shouted out her name as she weakly walked across the smog of smoke and ash. She coughed and fell to the ground. She began to sweat, the heat overbearing her body. She was about to black out had it not been for a golden light. In this light, the heat died down, the smoke faded, and even the fires went away._

 _The filly struggled to get up, her vision slowly returning as she saw a pony before her. At first, she thought it was her mother, but she noticed just how big she was. No. This was her ruler. She began to tremble. The large winged unicorn merely looked down to the younger unicorn. She observed the destruction the fire brought. What was once her beautiful home was now reduced to cinders and ashes._

 _"Where's mommy?" The pony asked. The alicorn needed to only look at the two collapsed unicorns, their furs a scorched black. The alicorn then looked down to her and frowned._

 _"… I'm sorry. Your mother and father can't be with you anymore." She said. The unicorn just froze, looked to the smolders that were once her parents, then began to sob._

 _"I'm sorry! I just wanted to practice my magic!" The little unicorn whimpered._

 _"I know… You were born with an unusually high amount of it, however. I'm sorry for the loss of your parents…" The alicorn said as she laid her large wings over the unicorn. There was several moments of silence or sobbing before the unicorn spoke up._

 _"… Where will I go?" The unicorn cried._

 _"Don't worry. I will help you control your magic and ensure it will never hurt anypony anymore." She said._

 _"… Y-you will?" She asked._

 _"Yes. I'm even considering you living with me while you learn." The alicorn said._

 _"… Thank you, Celestia…" She didn't smile, but her frown faded._

 _"… Do you need some time to say goodbye to your parents?" Celestia asked. The unicorn merely looked to the corpses, then nodded. "Very well. I will be waiting for you when you're ready to leave, Sunset Shimmer." With that, Celestia flew away. Sunset went to her parents, knelt, and cried._

 _"I'm sorry… I just… I wanted to be the very best… like no pony ever was…" She said._

* * *

Sunset glared at Ross as he readied something behind his back.

"Ross, I'll give you to the count of three to step away from the computer. One…" She got up on her fours, relying on her pony instinct to grab Ross if need be. Ross just stared. "Two…" Ross crouched. Sunset gritted her teeth. "THREE!"

Before Sunset could jump though, Ross disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. She heard mechanical whirring as a blade suddenly came inches before her throat.

"If you're not gonna be nice, then _I_ won't." She heard Ross growl into her ear. Ross could feel Sunset tremble as he held the blade of Crescent Rose against her throat.

"Nngh…" She muttered.

"You said that the Princess of the Fall Formal represents how thankful she is… But I have _not_ seen that from you. Do you think you can become the Princess by being such a jerk?" Ross asked.

"…" Sunset had no idea how to respond. She felt Ross press against her back. She remembered how she found him injured on the streets. She expected Ross to be at the very least controllable.

"No. You can't. Which is why I will do everything in my power to ensure you _don't_ become the Fall Formal Princess." With that, the blade goes away as Sunset heard the whirring again. Ross then walked away, leaving a shocked and confused Sunset on her bed.

* * *

Papers of various notes were scattered across the table. I decided to take Silverbolt's lab to my advantage and move my study over there, far from where the girls were. I didn't want to send them into a panic by telling them that their bully is intending to commit world domination. Speaking of, I had Colorful Commercial track down Sunset and continue to record her. Something told me that she'd be doing just more than speak with psychotic edgelords.

I had a lot of things to recap on now, such as who the man that Sunset talked to was or the significance of his dagger. I occasionally had Banno recite to me the statistics of various items, such as when I previously scanned the crown, to see if there was anything I could piece together.

I stood back when I ran out of space on the whiteboard to place my sticky notes on. When I looked at the monstrosity of sticky notes, with some even beginning to peel off, I felt ill.

"Think I'm gonna faint…" I had no idea where to begin. I only got one piece of information right: that Sunset is planning to take over Equestria, but other than that, I don't know who the guy she talked to was, how she's gonna get to Equestria, where I can best stop her, when will the plan take place, and why Sunset would be stupid enough to deal with a psychopath.

"So, you met him, I take it?" I turned around to face Niko. For the first time since I met him, I didn't aggressively attack him. Rather, I just looked at him.

"You know him?" I sighed. Of _course_ he does. "No, forget that. At this point I'm not surprised. Let me guess, one extra layer of the bullshit cake you've fed me?"

"No. I always intended you to fight the Roidmudes. He just went and changed up everything. I didn't even know he was here." Niko said.

"Oh, you mean like the Displaced or the pony from ponyland?" I rolled my eyes. "Everything would be _so_ much easier if I didn't have to handle all this crap! Did you know that since I met Twilight and got wrapped up in her bullshit, I never _once_ faced a Roidmude? I'm scared they're setting up some sort of operation that I don't know about because I'm too busy with stupid high school shit and when I'm not doing that, I'm fending off random assholes like that fatass! _Now_ you're telling me there's a _new_ threat I have to be aware about?" I yelled.

"… Yes. He is far more dangerous than the Roidmudes can ever be. They can destroy a world, yes, but their numbers are reduced, thus their efforts will be notably slowed down. This man, however, can destroy _multiple_ worlds and all he has to do is whisper sweet nothings to some fool's ear." Niko said. I then groaned.

"Sounds like he's your problem. _My_ problem is apparently goddamn prom. PROM! I'm too old for this shit!" I turned back to the board, only for Niko to grab my wrist.

"He _is_ my problem. I've been trying to make sure no idiot grabs his Token and summons him for the past five years. I've spent more time in other worlds than in my very own home just to make sure that monster never destroys anyone again. You feel pissed about being Displaced? Try being away from your family for longer than you've spent in a goddamn hospital! You're sobbing about your belt taking over you? Try falling asleep and praying no monster comes and eat your face off in your makeshift shelter made of sticks and stones! You're bitching about high school life? I'd _kill_ for that life! I'd kill to take back the years that were stolen from me!" Niko shouted.

I just stood there and saw him pour his heart out. When he was done shouting, I was rendered speechless. What do I say to him? I always saw Niko as this smug git, always having some new piece of information whenever he pops up… But now? I saw something in him in his eyes. I saw something in his fists. I saw something in the way he glared at me.

I saw _humanity_.

He sighed and began to speak.

"Sorry… This whole Roidmudes issue is to me like this prom thing is to you. I'd rather be done with it now so that I can deal with more stuff like my Displacer and giving people the thrill of survival." Niko said.

"You know…" I closed my eyes. "I never really saw things from your perspective before."

" **Hmm… Maybe I should yell at you to get you to understand** _ **my**_ **perspective.** " Banno said.

"You just _had_ to pick the mouthy belt, didn't you?" Niko chuckled.

"Hey, _you're_ the one who propped it dead center for me to see!" I barked.

" _Regardless_ ," Niko raised his voice slightly, "I'm warning you that what you're dealing with is more than you can handle. That crown you're after? That's a powerful artifact in Equestria. It has such magical properties that it can be able to _bring_ magic to any realm that lacks it. Case in point…" He then points to the floor.

"… So now I have to deal with magic. Great. Let me know when aliens come to Earth." I said.

"Goddamn it, Kelly! This is no laughing matter! This guy is a powerful sorcerer! With magic coming to this realm, he can simply flick his wrist and kill you. If he sets his sights on you, you're dead!" Niko said.

" **Let him. I'm practically the strongest person in this world. Were it not for my son, I would have been ruling the Earth with an iron fist. I was never a believer in magic anyways.** " Banno said.

"I've seen the things his magic can bring. Even the best of heroes fall to its might. This is the _only_ warning I'm gonna give. If you _ever_ see that guy… _run._ Don't fight. Just… run." Niko said. With that, he walked away.

"Like _you_ have?" I retorted. Niko only turned back.

"… Yeah. But I'm different. Running… is the only thing that makes me feel alive now." He then zipped away. I then looked at the notes and realized something.

Somepony has a lot of explaining to do. Ugggh… Did I just say "somepony"?

* * *

 _"I have to say, Sunset, your studies in magic have been growing in excellence." Celestia trotted down the long ivory hallways of her kingdom with her pupil, Sunset Shimmer, by her side._

 _"Thank you, Celestia. I_ do _try to make the most of my talents." Sunset smirked as she strode alongside Celestia._

 _"_ However _, I realize that you have been neglecting one aspect of your studies." As soon as Celestia said that, Sunset leaped in front of Celestia, eyes widened._

 _"W-what is it!? Is it my abjuration spells? I admit, I'm rusty in the shield spells, but-" Though Celestia just chuckled at her._

 _"No, my faithful student, the aspect I'm talking about is one of_ friendship _. You haven't been taking the time to work with your fellow students and all your group projects ended with you taking the whole project for yourself. Alone, you are great, but with friends, you can be even better." Celestia said._

 _"Hmph. Friends… I hate to disagree with you, but-"_

 _"Then_ don't _." Celestia noticed a shimmering object her way. A mirror._ Perfect! _This would be the thing she'd need to give Sunset a lesson. "Now, look into this mirror and tell me what you see." Sunset went over to look at the mirror._

 _"I see…" Sunset looked into the mirror and then swayed her hair so that her red-and-yellow colored hair could cover one of her eyes. She smiled. "A_ beautiful _pony with great potential and power…" Celestia rolled her eyes._

 _"Mmmm… Can you be a little more_ humble _about it?" Celestia said. Sunset sighed and looked into the mirror some more. As she did, Celestia stood behind her. Sunset could see herself in the mirror._

 _"Humble, huh? Okay…" Sunset's voice was reduced to a hush as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she looked into the mirror again. "I see somepony who's_ not _perfect…" Celestia smiled for a bit until Sunset continued. "Not_ yet _." That's when Celestia's smile faded. "I see a pony who needs to be_ more _great. A pony who wants to be_ more _powerful. A pony…" Sunset could see a faint light in the mirror. The light ended up shimmering over Sunset's body and in a moment, she could see wings and a crown on her. "… A pony who will one day rule Equestria."_

 _"Weeeeeeeell… We should move on..." Celestia said as she walked away. As Sunset turned around to follow Celestia, she noticed a flash of light from the mirror. She turned around and saw the brief glimpse of flames._

 _"Huh? What was that?" Sunset asked._

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"There! In the reflection! I think I saw something!" Sunset said._

 _"I think we're done for the evening." Celestia unfolded one of her wings and began to push Sunset towards her. "For homework, I want you to_ reflect _on this conversation we had." Celestia said. Sunset simply scowled. Celestia's wing obscured any vision of the mirror._

 _Celestia gave a heavy sigh. She had just realized what the mirror she showed Sunset was. It was an invention from her old friend, Star Swirl the Bearded. One that, as it pains her to recall, could cause tons of devastation if one is to get_ too _curious with it. As she saw the disappointed student in her wing, she knew that would be the case for Sunset._

* * *

As I walked down the hallway, I began to overhear some people.

"So who are you voting for?" One guy asked.

"I dunno. The options are limited." His friend responded.

"Well, at least we _have_ options this time around!" The guy said.

"Yeah, but we have to pick between a bully and some psychopath. Have you _seen_ the video?" He then took out his iPhone and showed his friend the video. Already I knew what he was talking about. I walked faster, trying to get to Twilight as soon as I could.

* * *

Principal Celestia sighed as Luna stood next to her in her office. On the Principal's laptop was a site called YouHoof, in which a video entitled "PSYCHO STUDENTS AND THEIR PSYCHO TEACHER BEAT UP FAT GUY" played. She frowned as it showed not only five of her students, but also Golden Drive and her newest transfer student, Twilight Sparkle, fighting a small chubby man with spikes growing out of his bald head.

"To think this would be uploaded the eve of the Fall Formal… The students will be hard pressed to vote." Luna sighed as Celestia turned her chair around.

"What do you mean by that?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"The students have to pick between a school bully and some new kid who ended up making not only an ass of herself, but also is an accomplice to a beating. It is like witnessing a presidential election." Luna sat down and massaged her forehead.

"Have faith, sister… Hope will spring eternal soon." Celestia clicked off the video.

"I heard the students in the hall on my way here. They saw this video as well. They are _scared_." Luna then grabbed the mouse and clicked on FireHorse and restored the closed window. She then scrolled down to where the uploader's name is at, then moved her cursor towards the uploader's avatar. Celestia looked at it and just scowled as she saw it was a picture of Sunset Shimmer. To further confirm it, it had the name S. Shimmer on it.

"One side is obviously attacking the other and the damage is already irreversible. There's no favorable option, sister… I suggest we cancel the Fall Formal." Luna said.

"Absolutely not." Celestia clicked off the browser again.

"Why not!? This is barely a contest anymore and I cannot _bear_ to see that ruffian win again! _Especially_ when she is using dirty and underhanded tactics!" Luna shouted so hard, students outside stopped to look at what was going on. One simple glare from Luna caused them to scurry by.

"Even if the people are scared, you have to remember why we chose to do these ceremonies in the first place." Celestia got up and went over to the bookshelf.

"Yes, you don't need to remind me of that fable." Luna crossed her arms. As she said that, a melody of chimes and rings prompted Celestia to look at her computer. She saw a message in front of her saying:

 **INCOMING MEETING FROM THE HEADMASTER**

"Luna, we can discuss this another time." Celestia said. Luna simply nodded and left the room. Celestia opened up the messenger program, ChatNoir, and saw four small windows opened up. Each window showed one face and titled with one title. "What seems to be the problem?" Celestia looked at one of the windows. It was grayed out, showing no face. It still showed the title of 'Principal of Everton Independent Study'.

"It would appear that Everton has gone rogue." The Principal of the Wonderbolts Academy spoke with such a gruff voice. He had brown skin, a black beard shaped to be an upper portion of a bat, short black hair, hazel eyes, and an olive green coat.

"Gone rogue?" Celestia widened her eyes.

"I knew there was something suspicious about that school the moment they took an interest in one of my professors." To contrast the brown-skinned Principal, this Principal had a bluish hue that could have her easily mistaken for a cadaver. She had purpleish curled hair, purple eyes, and wore a preppy enough business uniform. Celestia knew her personally as Principal Cinch, who ran Crystal Prep Academy. Cinch then smirked. "Speaking of, how _is_ Silverbolt doing?" She asked.

"Let's not change the subject, Cinch." Celestia knew that dry tone anywhere. She looked towards the upper left window, having the title of Headmaster. There she saw the silver-haired bespectacled man wearing a green turtleneck underneath a black business suit. Celestia, in her history with talking with this man knew that, when he isn't seen with a mug of coffee on the ready, some serious shit was about to happen.

"Everton has allied with what would appear to be a terrorist organization. The same one that is responsible for the recent attacks and experiences of slowdowns." The man simply had his hands clasped. "I presume you're thinking about the upcoming Fall Formal, correct, Celestia?" He asked.

"Y-yes. A new student has entered the contest of who would be the Princess of the Fall Formal." As soon as Celestia said that, she noticed the man's hands tighten slightly.

"I see… Then my decisions to have Tracer and that boy enter your school have been in the right. Which _also_ means that my hunch was correct." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Rainart, have the Wonderbolts increase security throughout the city. Cinch, because of Professor Silverbolt's ties to Everton, I'm assigning you to hunt down their allied organization. As for _you_ , Celestia," he proceeded to glare, as if directly staring at Celestia, "prepare for the worst case scenario. If the Fall Formal Crown falls in the wrong hands, then our hope with Canterlot High surviving tonight will dwindle to almost nothing." Before Celestia could even comment on it, the Headmaster logged off. The remaining three went into silence.

"Prepare for the worst!? What the hell is this man talking about? He's senile! That's what he is!" Cinch began to speak up.

"Shut it." Only for Rainart to bark up. "I have faith in him. Celestia, I pray things work out." Rainart then logged out. Cinch was left to just babble a little before she too logged out. Celestia was now left alone. She simply lowered her head and began to softly cry.

How the hell could she 'prepare for the worst'?

* * *

As soon as I entered the library, I shook Twilight awake. I noticed the other five girls were fast asleep, leaving me and Twilight to have our chat.

"What happened?" Twilight slurred as she slowly got up. I decided to drag her by the wrist over to behind one of the bookshelves. I had no time for Twilight to sober up.

"Did you know?" I growled.

"K-know what?!" Twilight took a considerable amount of time to let my question enter her mind as she shook.

"Don't bullshit me, Twilight! Did. You. Know!?" I restrained myself from grabbing at her collar.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Twilight tried to lower her voice.

"That your little crown brought magic to this world?!" I said. She paused a bit before I calmed. "No… Of course not." I muttered.

"The Element of Magic… Of course! That's what Sunset was talking about!" Twilight then froze up again before making a somewhat silly looking face as her eyes went wide, her pupils shrunk, and her mouth ridiculously huge. "Oh no! Sunset must be wanting to use the crown to increase her magical potential!" Twilight said.

"Not only that, but she's in cahoots with this guy who wants her to invade Equestria." I said.

"I-invade Equestria!?" I reached out to her mouth to shut her up.

"Yes." I hissed. "Obviously your crown is a powerful item. Ross is right. The sooner it's out of here, the better." I pulled my hand away from Twilight's mouth.

"So we have to win it no matter what!" That's when I looked at her.

"So what do you stall for?" I asked. Twilight just winced, then tilted her head. I looked behind me and saw the five girls sleeping. "So?" I asked.

"You may know Equestria, but the others _don't._ If I up and tell them I'm some pony princess, they'll just look at me funny." Twilight said. That's when I saw Spike approach Twilight.

"Twilight, these people have supported you ever since you came to this place. I doubt they'll easily dismiss you if you claim to be a princess." Spike said.

"But what if they will? What if when I needed them most, they'll just abandon me?" That's when I could see Twilight tear up. I slightly looked down, only because I too felt that same way before.

* * *

 _ **BANG!**_

 _I remembered myself falling against the locker as my glasses fell off. I tried to get to them, only to end up cutting my finger at the glass. The harassment began before I even stepped into the school, when some of the girls tripped me and made me fall on the pavement on my knees_. _I was too busy walking off the scrapes to notice someone else pushing me into the locker when I went to it._

 _"Wow, look at her! What a total dork!" One of the girls said to me as I struggled to get up. I saw a crowd of girls in front of me, all of them laughing. I began to wonder what had happened that caused this to happen. That's when I saw something get tossed at me._

 _It was a picture of me singing karaoke. It took me a while to piece two and two together. I remembered the cute pair of pajamas I had when I sang the song "Sunflower" by the band SOPHIA. I then remembered when that exactly was._

 _It was a sleepover with just me and one other girl. And sure enough, I saw her standing in front of the bullies. Ashley Neige. She was my closest friend… In fact, she was my_ only _friend. It was weird in retrospect. I was the nerdy, nose-in-her-book type while she was your ordinary rich bitch. Well, not really. She was actually very sweet._

Was _being the keyword. There was a rumor circulating the school that Ashley's father had been embezzling funds ever since a cop investigated them. I had supported her while she got ridiculed for the scandal. But as I saw her look at me and heard the students, I realized what happened._

 _"Nice work!"_

 _"Yeah, you really exposed this nerdy bitch!"_

 _"You can sit with us back at the cool kids table!"_

 _I began to tear up as Ashley began to sink back into the crowd of girls. My body trembled and I continued to sob by the lockers._

* * *

"Then that's when their _true_ friendship is tested." I muttered. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"If they abandon you in your time of need, then they're not your friends. They just use you as a stepping stone to up their _own_ status. If they _don't_ , then they are indeed your friends." I said. That's when Spike spoke up.

"Yeah! You helped them reunite. I doubt they'll easily forget that when taking you into consideration." Spike said. I smiled a bit.

"Yeah… Let Spike do the talking. He makes a lot more sense than I'll ever be." I bit my lip as my personal past came back to haunt me. Twilight went over to the girls, but before she spoke up, we all heard a crashing sound. I ran off to investigate the noise.

* * *

As I arrived, I saw nobody, but rather an entire gym decorated with what were the remains of party decorations. The girls entered at the same time as me, only to look at the carnage that went on, what with tossed tables, broken chairs, and even popped balloons. I could almost hear Pinkie about to scream before Celestia entered.

"What in the blue blazes… Oh my!" Celestia said. She was soon followed by a dark-skinned woman with long midnight blue to light purple hair. I presumed this was Luna.

"W-who would do such a thing?" Luna held her hand close to her mouth.

"I have a hunch…" I then eyed a toy car barely trying to wheel itself close to me. I just walked over to it, picked the Shift Car up, and placed it in my pocket.

"Professor, we don't need to be pointing fingers." Celestia said.

"Even if it's obvious who did it?" I rolled my eyes and looked at her.

"It doesn't matter who did it… What's done is done. There's absolutely no way we can clean this mess up in time." Luna stepped forward. "I'm going to have to cancel the Fall Formal." That's when I saw Twilight lose it.

"What!? No! Nonononononononononononononononononono!" Twilight cried out. I merely tittered as she sunk to the floor on her knees, her hands pressed onto the ground.

"What's wrong, Sugarcube?" Applejack placed a hand behind Twilight's back. Fluttershy knelt over and held Twilight.

"Yeah, you can tell us." Fluttershy said. Twilight simply got up and looked to Celestia. "Principal Celestia, please, reconsider!" Twilight said. I decided that we weren't gonna do things her way.

I walked over to the doors, intent of marching right into Celestia's office and grabbing the crown myself, when suddenly I saw a red blur zipping into the room with several rose petals following him. The blur created such a wind that it picked up all the debris off the floor. The blur stopped and unraveled itself, revealing Ross. As the debris

As the debris fell, Ross ran over to set the tables back up. Rainbow Dash looked at it, then proceeded to run to the debris as well, helping Ross fix the tables and chairs. The other girls realized what was going on and went over to fix up the room. I merely smiled as I saw Celestia and Luna look with widened eyes at the sheer velocity of Rainbow and Ross.

By the time Ms. Oxton came, they were already done with the gym and it looked as good as new. Celestia and Luna blinked. As Ross and Rainbow stopped running, the tables gently dropped to the ground, legs touching the floor, along with new sheets to cover the tables on.

"Hey loves, what did I… Oh… Oh wow…" Oxton was able to see the tail end of the girls fixing up the gym. I merely looked to Luna.

"So… About that cancellation?" I asked.

"… Yeah, let's pretend this never happened…" Luna took a moment before speaking up. "The whole 'cancelling the Formal' thing, I mean, not the kids who are suddenly super-fast…" Luna gulped, though ultimately, me, Celestia and Oxton all nodded. I could hear a bit of crying nearby. I looked around to see where it was coming from, but aside from Ross who did the same thing, I didn't find the source. I noticed Ross stuck his head at one particular area before glancing away.

He knew something.

* * *

By the time we left the gym, I looked over to Ross. I stopped walking and let the other people go, then glared at Ross.

"So… Was it her?" I asked.

"… Yeah. It had to be. Kelly, I think Sunset's upset." He said.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"No! I mean… I broke up with her last night." Ross frowned.

"Broke up? What, you two were dating? Well, it _does_ explain why you were kissing her ass." I chuckled.

"W-what!? No! I-it's not like that!" Ross blushed and hid his face. "I… I told Sunset that I won't help her become Fall Formal Princess because I saw who she _really_ was…" I proceeded to pat him on the back.

"Bra-vo! Congrats on being smart for once in my entire time of meeting you!" I said.

"But I feel _bad_ about how I reacted! I held my baby to her throat!" Ross said.

"… Baby? What, did you guys have some secret love affair or some shit?" I asked.

"N-no… That's what Ruby called this…" He lugged the scythe in its inactive form out a bit before tucking it behind his cape that he seemed insistent on wearing on his school uniform.

"You could have…" I bit my lip as I caught myself about to finish the sentence with: 'done this world a favor by killing her right then and there'… I could hear Banno chuckle darkly.

"I was tired. It had been a long night of me busting my ass to try and clear your name." Ross said.

"Oh, so that was _you_? Thanks, by the way." I said.

"Stop changing the topic! I was tired and Sunset pissed me off and… And…" I then saw Ross have a thousand mile stare. That very same thousand mile stare that I saw Fatty had.

Ross was remembering something from this Ruby's past.

"… Could that be why?" Ross muttered to himself. He then looked at me and sighed. "I'm sorry. But, rest assured, I _will_ help you help Twilight from now on." With that, he ran off. As he ran off, I had some time to reflect on what I was about to say to Ross. Sure, I hated bullies, but to suggest for Ross to murder her? Have I really become that ruthless?

I frowned as I remembered a Kamen Rider character who was _also_ a bully before she became a good guy: Miu Kazashiro. In fact, I actually remembered a similar story arc in which Miu tried to be a prom queen…

Soon, the wheels in my head started to turn as I smirked. I had thought of a master plan.

* * *

Ross slowly approached the tombstone. He was surprised that, despite his last sortie resulting in him revealing his true form, Tachibana still got a funeral. Ross smiled, though he then shed a tear.

" _Hey, mom._ "

Sure enough, it began to trigger memories of Ruby. He didn't want to admit it, but ever since he left Sunset Shimmer that night, he began to think about what caused him to put a blade to Sunset's throat. At first, he thought it was his tiredness and stress taking over, but the more he thought, the more he remembered of the nightmare he had. He trembled as he saw the entire turn of events play out, starting from the tombstone.

There was a tournament, Ross could definitely conclude that it was the Vytal Festival, the tournament RWBY hyped about for the past two volumes. It was going well, and telling from the memories of Qrow, Ruby's uncle and mentor figure was gonna be a pretty cool dude. At first, Ross wondered why the events playing out in his head were happy memories…

Then it came down to Ruby's sister Yang and a man known as Mercury. The fight ended with Yang seemingly injuring Mercury's leg, thus causing a downward spiral of events from doubt being placed on Yang to RWBY being disqualified from the tournament.

It got worse. _Now_ were the memories that kept playing in Ross' head. He remembered himself… No… He remembered Ruby going on a lead that put her in a maintenance hallway where Mercury was, completely fine and standing on his two legs. A fight ensued, with Ruby escaping, but gaining some wounds in the process.

As soon as Ross saw what Ruby saw upon entering the stadium, one of her friends brutally killing one of her other friends, he fell on his knees, much like how he remembered Ruby. The next few events became a blur. An attack ensued, Ruby fought a man by the name of Roman Torchwick who was quickly dispatched by a Grimm, her own sister brutally hurt… And then…

The moment that always haunted Ross… It soon became clear why he was remembering it. A woman named Cinder had become friends with Ruby. Of course, this was merely a ruse, but the way she revealed her true colors was far from how Sunset revealed her true colors.

Ruby had to witness Cinder murdering a close friend of hers… Just then, in the middle of a cry, everything became white, and that voice came up once again.

" _It's alright. I got ya, kiddo. I got ya._ "

Ross took a while to get up from that, but that's when he noticed there was more to Ruby's memories. Not much, just her recovering from that night and Qrow coming to talk to Ruby about what happened. Chills went up his spine as he began to hear Ruby say Cinder's name with such malice and anger. What shook Ross to the core, however, was that he felt the exact same way.

As he dwelled on the memories, he began to think about the feelings Ruby had. Ross had always thought of Ruby as a nice, sweet, kind girl, always optimistic about the world. Of course, Cinder and her friends did quite a number on that worldview, as telling from the memories he saw, but he never quite expected the mood to take a downpour.

He never thought Ruby would have an outright desire to _kill_ Cinder, or at least avenge the deaths of her friends by her hands. The last memory seemed to confirm it for Ross as he saw Ruby going off with some of her friends to pretty much hunt down Cinder, or at least get some answers. Ross wasn't sure Ruby wanted to kill Cinder or if _he_ wanted to kill Cinder. The more he thought, the more he began to feel as though he had _lived_ through all of Ruby's memories, as if he had _became_ Ruby.

Then he remembered how he attacked Sunset. Those memories played in his head when he was confronted with the fact that Sunset Shimmer was a jerk. He had been a spectator to Ruby's most tragic moments for the past week now. If anything, _he_ was the one reacting to those moments with such vile desires to kill Cinder, not Ruby.

Not that it helped him calm at the slightest. That just meant that _he's_ the one out for blood, not Ruby. Ross simply cried at the tombstone and began to weep out some words he'd _never_ thought he'd say.

"I want to go home… I want to look up cute images of puppies on the internet…" Ross soon felt a hand on his shoulder. He got up and saw… "Fluttershy!"

"Ross, what are you doing here?" Fluttershy asked. She was in a yellow dress with a cyan, see-thru fabric draped over her dress with yellow high heels. Ross just got up and shed a tear.

"I… I was just…" He then looked to Tachibana's grave. "Tachibana was a friend of mine. He's the first guy I met upon coming here. I… I owe everything to him. You?"

"… Tachibana died to save my life. The least I can do for him is pay my respects before I have to go for the Fall Formal." Fluttershy left a bouquet of roses at Tachibana's grave. "Speaking of, are you going?"

"I guess." Ross said.

"Anyone in mind?" Fluttershy asked.

"Huh?"

"Who are you taking to the Formal? Flash is taking Twilight, Applejack's gonna chaperone her little sister, same with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie's gonna be too busy running the guest list to dance." Fluttershy said.

"And you?" Ross asked.

"…" Fluttershy simply blushed. Ross just sighed.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not going with anyone as well. I sort of blew my chances with Sunset." Ross said. Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"You what?" Fluttershy squealed.

"I know she can be rude at times, but, I really liked being with Sunset. It was like she had my back and-"

"No! That's amazing!" Fluttershy said.

"It… is?"

"Yeah. She _may_ be rude, but I doubt she was _born_ that way. If _you_ could see the good in her, maybe the others can as well!" Fluttershy said.

"So… Even if Sunset ruined your lives, you _still_ think she has a chance to be a nicer person?" Ross asked.

"Well, if Tachibana can change, so could she." Fluttershy and Ross looked at the grave. Ross then extended a hand to Fluttershy.

"To the socially awkward." Ross smiled. Fluttershy merely laughed and shook his hand.

"We should hang out together after the dance. It'd be great to know who Tachibana was to you." Fluttershy looked into Ross' eyes.

"Yeah. Same with you." That's when Ross looked at something at the corner of his eye.

It was Rose, the person from last night that destroyed that one Roidmude. He approached three gravestones that were positioned closely together compared to the other graves. Ross turned to Fluttershy.

"I'll see you at the dance. There's someone I have to talk to." Ross said. Fluttershy simply smiled and went away as Ross ran to meet Rose. He saw Rose kneeling before the three graves. Ross then noticed that the three graves each had the same symbols that Rose had as dog tags: the lightning bolt, the winged heart, and the shooting star. The graves also had their respective names etched in: Sky Stinger, Angel Wings, and Vapor Trail.

"So… Who are you visiting?" Ross suddenly saw Rose stand up and turned to stare at Ross.

"Who's ther-… Oh, it's you." Rose sighed and looked back at the graves. "Sorry. I'm just a little tense right now is all. I'm always like this when I'm here."

"So… who are they to you?" Ross asked.

"My team. My… My former team, at least. They were some of the nicest friends I met…" Rose shed a few tears as Ross began to remember some of the fonder times of Team RWBY's exploits, such as fixing up their room for the first time or eating food during the tournament.

Of course, once he thought of the tournament, he began to think about the series of unfortunate events that followed. From there, he remembered one thing about Rose that stuck with him the entire night.

"Rose, I was wondering… Miss Oxto- Er… Tracer, told me that you were a Displaced." Ross said.

"And?"

"Well… I'm a Displaced too! Erm… How long were you a Displaced?" Ross asked.

"… About a few years now. You?" He asked.

"Well, since July." Ross laughed quietly.

"Hmm… So, I guess you want to know about being a Displaced?" Rose asked.

"Y-yeah! Well, one thing…" Ross looked to the graves. "The memories, they're a common occurrence to Displaced, right?"

"Yeah. You remember the past deeds of your hero or villain, for better or worse. It comes with the territory of having your body be modified to accommodate for the newly obtained powers. I mean, without them, you'd have no idea how to hold that weapon, correct?" Rose asked. Ross remembered someone asking Ruby who taught her to fight with a scythe, citing it as one of the most dangerous weapons of all time. He slowly nodded to that statement.

"So… is there ever a moment where you start to feel like you're thinking and acting like your character?" Ross asked.

"All the time. When I turned into BioRosemon yesterday, that was still me… But deep down, I felt like a monster had taken over my body. The real me would never be that cruel or sadistic. That's what I always say to rationalize myself, at least. I'm guessing you're getting that feeling too?" Rose asked.

"Yeah… I… don't know what happened, but I reacted negatively to a friend of mine, and I'm not sure if my intent was truly my own or if it was my character's." Ross said.

"You feel like someone's possessing you." Rose said.

"No. I just worry that I'll become something I'm not one day." Ross said.

"… Well, that's life." Rose began to walk away from the graves before Ross ran to him.

"No! It's not! I never asked for this! I never asked to feel like I'm being torn apart!" Ross screamed out.

"Well, you did when you accepted that damn merchant's offer, did you not?" Rose asked. Ross became silent. "I didn't even have a choice." Rose continued to look at the graves. "I should be dead. I _have_ died. I remember my time in the afterlife quite well… It wasn't until a friend of mine came and rescued me with that offer. It was either get Displaced or rot in hell. And quite frankly, I didn't enjoy the underworld." Rose closed his eyes, exhaled, then looked into the sky.

"We became Displaced because we wanted to be something we're not: our heroes. The best we can do now is live like them, lest we get ruled by them." Rose began to walk away, before he stopped. "Kid, what's your name? Like, your actual name." Rose asked.

"Ross… Ross Roosevelt." Ross said.

"Joey. Joey Chandler." Joey turned around and shook Ross' hand. "If you still remember your name, you are still yourself. Remember that." Joey then proceeded to leave. Ross stood still for a bit before doing the same.

* * *

 _"Come on! Where is it?" Sunset thrashed through the library as she looked for a specific book. "It's not this one… nor is it_ this _one!" She tossed away several books, all of them having such lovely titles such as 'Magic for Evil Overlords', 'The Art of Displacement', and 'The Secrets of the Heart-Shaped Moon'. One book even had just a face on it. Well, several books did._

 _"Hah! Here we go!" Sunset pulled out a book from the shelf entitled 'Starswirl's Forbidden Fruits of Labour'. Confirming her suspicions as the cover showing the exact same mirror she saw. Sunset began to read._

 _"The Crystal Mirror was perhaps one of Starswirl's most exquisite and refined inventions. Based off the Looking Glass, his prototype, the Crystal Mirror allows for one to jump to a certain realm, the magic inside allowing them to take a form to blend in to society, an improvement from the Looking Glass. However, the realm lacks Equestrian Magic and thus, the only way to be able to cross into it is to wait until the moon is at its peak, which happens every thirty moons, thus granting you a window of time for you to cross over." Sunset pulled her nose from the book. "Why would Celestia keep this from me?"_

 _"Why don't you ask me up front?" Sunset turned around to face Celestia, who had two guards on her side._

 _"… I will. How_ dare _you keep this from me?! This could grant me great power!" Sunset said._

 _"It's always about you and power, isn't it? True power rests on compassion and sincerity,_ not _ambition and selfishness." Celestia said._

 _"I am not being selfish! I merely want to be the best!" Sunset threw the book at Celestia, who created a brief shield that stopped the book from hitting her. The book then fell onto the ground and opened to a random page. Both Celestia and Sunset read the title of the chapter: "The Destiny Spell". The book was situated right in front of Sunset, ready to be read by her._

 _"Starswirl's unfinished spell, no pony knows what his intent with the spell was, but it is able to switch Cutie-" before she could finish, Celestia took the book away from her. "Hey!"_

 _"You are not ready for this kind of power, Sunset. Power like this must be earned the_ correct _way." Celestia said._

 _"It said it was unfinished… I could finish it and unlock its true potential!" Sunset said._

 _"Sunset, I've seen the price of this spell. It can destroy lives. Are you willing to ruin the livelihoods of ponies everywhere?" Celestia asked._

 _"Yes! I'm destined for greatness! I can solve this spell and gain so much power that I can-"_

 _"No longer be a student of mine." Celestia closed her eyes._

 _"W-what?" Sunset asked._

 _"That mindset confirms that you are no longer a student of mine. No pony should ever make their fellow pony suffer for their personal gain and ambitions. You might mean well with fixing the Destiny Spell, but deep down, we both know you won't stop there. Eventually you'll want more power, believing that you_ deserve _it. Reality is, Sunset, you_ don't _deserve more power." Celestia said._

 _"Why not?! I am meant for-"_

 _"Do not confuse entitlement for destiny. Just because you're my student does not mean you have a free pass to be selfish and ambitious. In order to have that sort of power, you need to think with kindness, honesty, generosity, loyalty-"_

 _"SCREW ALL THAT! I am going to rule Equestria as the greatest and most powerful pony who ever lived! If this book can give me power, then I will take it for all its worth!" Sunset's horn began to glow. Celestia merely smirked before Sunset fired a blast at Celestia. Celestia's horn merely flashed, redirecting the scorching ray to Sunset, burning her horn and knocking her into a bookshelf. Celestia then marched to Sunset._

 _"If that is where this conversation is going, then you are no longer welcome in this castle. You are no longer my student." Celestia began to make her horn glow._

 _"Am… Is that all I ever was to you? Just a student? Nothing more? Did you… Did you not in your entire life consider me more than_ just _a student?" Sunset said._

 _"If I did… then I'd be hurt by what I'll do next." Celestia said as she caused Sunset to glow as well. "I'm going to cast a simple teleportation spell. If you ever step foot into this castle again, I will cast a much more potent spell to get you to understand that you are not welcome here."_

 _"You are making a huge mistake!" Sunset cried out as Celestia caused Sunset to pop out of the room and into her garden. Celestia then looked to the sky and saw a full moon containing the outline of a horse's head. She then closed her eyes and shed a tear._

 _"One of many…" She said as she walked away._

* * *

"Flash Sentry, you're clearly not well to go to the Fall Formal!" Soarin' watched as Flash staggered. There some bandages still on his body from last night, but most of the bandages applied were absent. However, Soarin' only needed to look at the way he walked, a staggering, almost hesitant walk from his closet to the door, to know his condition.

"I'm fine, dad. I can go." Flash didn't give any sort of aggression in his voice. Only when Soarin' tried to block the door did Flash attempt to commit some violent act. "Dad… Move!" He subtly pressed against Soarin's chest, though it wasn't strong enough to push him. "I promised Twilight a dance at the Fall Formal and I'm gonna commit to it."

"You're not gonna be dancing much. You can't even _walk_ right!" Soarin' said.

"I was able to hold my own against some kinda robot, I can dance fine enough." Flash said.

"You are not going- Wait, what?" Soarin' asked.

"At Everton, I got into a fight with one of those robots that attacked the school a while back." Flash merely sighed and went over to wardrobe, pulled out a drawer and pulled out the Frubask Driver and the Orange Lockseed. "I was given these by one of Everton's researchers. She told me to use these to protect myself… And I did. I almost defeated it, dad." Soarin' merely closed his eyes and sighed.

"You're _that_ determined to find out the truth, huh?" Soarin' asked.

"No. I just want to defend people. Sometimes I think you and the police can't handle everything. I don't want what happened to the school to happen to anyone else… I… I don't want people to lose their mom like I have…" Flash frowned for a brief moment before realizing something. "I… I saw my mom!" Soarin' looked to Flash.

"You did?" Soarin' raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… Though, she didn't seem to confirm or deny it. I… She _looked_ like my mom! So… Maybe… Maybe my mom is alive and is out there!" Flash looked at the Frubask Driver. "She only came when I started using this… Perhaps… Perhaps if I continue to use it some more, she'll come again and I can talk to her some more… Even… Even if she wants me to be a monster."

"… A monster?" Soarin' asked.

"… It's a long story." Flash said. Soarin' just smiled and sat on Flash's bed. Flash sat down next to him.

"Son… I have something to say. It's… something I dwelled upon for a while." Soarin' closed his eyes.

"I _hope he chokes on the dark truth once it is revealed._ " He still remembered his old coach's words to him. For a moment, he hesitated to say the truth.

" _You may not be the best cop in the world, but damn it if you're not trying to be. I appreciate your atonement, Soarin', and I hope Flash will if and when he finds out._ " But it was Professor Silverbolt's words to him that helped him get the words out.

"Flash… You're… You're not really my son." Soarin' said.

"I'm… not?" Flash asked.

"I know, I don't like to drop a bombshell on a night like tonight, but recent events had me thinking about it. The night your mom disappeared, I took you in and tried to find your real father." Soarin' said.

"You couldn't find him, did you?" Flash asked.

"No. I _did_. The problem was that he didn't want to accept you." Soarin' said.

"What?"

"I first found it dickish, especially with the reasoning he gave, but… in retrospect, I can now see where he's coming from." Soarin' said.

"What did he say?"

"He told me that your strength needs to be your own. If he were to raise you, you'd just rely on his strength and can never truly get strong yourself. Last night… you were able to find your own strength. I doubt I'm the only one who's proud of you." Soarin' said. Flash simply smiled before he thought of something.

"Who… Who _was_ my dad?"

"…" Soarin' sighed. "He… he's a leader of a notorious street gang. That's all you need to know." Soarin' got off the bed. "Now go, your dance awaits." Flash just looked to Soarin' before he nodded and got up. It seemed that question time is over. He left the room as Soarin' simply frowned.

* * *

I think I made it clear that I hated prom. That I wanted nothing to do with prom. That it was contributing absolutely nothing but wrecked psyches and yet another tale to tell at the shrink. And yet, I'm forced to attend not because Celestia intended to do so, but because an artifact that could very well be the thing that can end not just this world, but another world entirely is on the line.

And it's being used as a goddamned crown for the prom queen.

"Evenin' Professor!" Miss Oxton kept a cheery voice towards me. I just glared and grunted before heading towards the dance hall. There I saw several students dancing the night away. I spotted Flash and Twilight dancing. Huh, wonder if I should burst the hormonal kid's bubble and say he's gonna make out with a horse. Though, I saw that there were some bandages on him. The kid must have gotten in a scuffle. Well, time to play the role of teacher and ignore any sort of injury this kid might have had.

I continued down the dance hall, inspecting everything, but more importantly, locating Sunset. That's when I noticed _two_ that weren't dancing. Fluttershy was obvious, but Ross was different. I would have guessed he'd dance his way into _someone's_ pants by now. The two were drinking punch as everyone else danced. I eavesdropped on what they were saying.

"You like it? Rarity had this made for me. She's just _loves_ fashion." Fluttershy said. She wore a, admittedly, lovely blue and yellow dress. Ross, on the other hand, wore his usual black school blazer, something I found odd due to the fact that CHS lacks any dress code. However, underneath was a gray waistcoat with a red bowtie. Huh, guess he considers bowties as cool as well?

"Huh. Um… Don't tell anyone this, but I sort of like fashion as well. See this?" He pulled up the blazer. "I sewed this. It took a while, but I managed to get the right materials for it."

"Oh, it looks great!" Fluttershy said.

"… Thanks. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm… Well, nobody expected me to be a fashion designer and to be truthful, I don't think they even _wanted_ me to be one. But… I decided to stick to my guns and continue my passion. So, yeah, I'm glad you like it." Ross then chuckled. "Maybe me and Rarity could do a collab one day." That's when Fluttershy joined in on the chuckling. I frowned only slightly.

I caught the implication of what Ross meant, though I didn't exactly have the time for sympathy. Especially since I saw Celestia and Luna approaching to the stage. I merely walked towards the stage as well.

"Professor?" Miss Oxton tried to follow me, but I soon heard a vibrating. "Hello? … W-what? Now!? How many? Oh God!" I slightly turned around as Oxton hung up and ran off. I blinked. What the hell was that? I saw Ross looked somewhat concerned towards the teacher, but I had no time to wonder what is going on.

I need to take a certain bitch down a peg.

* * *

 _Sunset Shimmer ran off far from the castle grounds. She knew she wasn't welcome_ anywhere _near Celestia's vicinity anymore and the further she got, the better. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed out a loud sob, louder than when her parents burned away in the fire she made. Eventually, her legs gave out and Sunset stopped in front of a lake. She took some time to look at the lake, even looking at her own reflection. When she noticed something odd in the distance._

 _It was a swan. A swan with wings of such a shiny white that when it opened its wings, she mistook it for Celestia and hid away._

 _"I'm sorry, Celestia!" She cried out._

 _"No… You are not sorry." The swan spoke out. Sunset poked her head out from her legs and looked at the swan. Its wings were spread wide before it flapped and flew into the air. It expanded its wings and neck before exploding in a flash of light. What remained of the swan turned into a grayish smoke and swirled towards Sunset. She prepared to defend herself when the smoke passed her, then settled on the ground before forming into a man._

 _The man with bleached hair that she would soon associate as an ally._

 _"_ She _is._ _" He sneered._

 _"Who? Celestia?" Sunset began to shake._

 _"Yes… I am just one of many who Celestia has betrayed and left for dead. Just like you." He said._

 _"You are?" She asked._

 _"Yes… I am. Let me ask you, do you believe in destiny?" He asked._

 _"Of course I do! I just saw my fate in the mirror and Celestia denied me it!" Sunset said._

 _"Funny… I always saw her as one who would cram destiny onto others. Regardless, we both share a common enemy." He said._

 _"… I… I don't see Celestia as an enemy." She muttered._

 _"You said it yourself! Celestia snubbed you out of a life_ you _deserved! Just like she did with me!" The man went on his knees and had his hands close to Sunset's neck._

 _"She… She what?" Sunset asked._

 _"…" The man pulled away and sat down. "I am not from this world, obviously. In fact, I am not_ in _this world right now. I am merely a projection of residue magic."_

 _"Residue magic… So you_ were _here… To cast some sort of magic spell that could be triggered long after it's placed. Right?" Sunset asked._

 _"You_ are _talented at magic. I am surprised Celestia snubbed your position so quickly." Sunset frowned as the man continued. "But yes, I placed part of my magic onto this lake in the hopes that someone like me would come across it and hear my tale of why Celestia needs to suffer." He said._

 _"So, what are you waiting for? Tell it! I doubt this magic's gonna last long." Sunset said._

 _"… I fell in love with a Pegasus. She was the most beautiful Pegasus I have ever laid eyes upon. But Celestia insisted that we should not be together. She insisted that she'd marry some dumb soldier. All on the insistence that it is her destiny. And my love bought her lie. It's one thing to have your true love be torn from you… It's_ another _to have them be torn from you because someone else had plans for them. I suffered without my love… But I found a new one. One who understood my pain. One who will help me exact revenge on Celestia. I'm here to help you do the same." He said._

 _"… I'm sorry, this is all too much for me. I-"_

 _"Do you want that power you thirsted for? It is waiting for you." He then looked at the moon. "The moon is at its peak tonight."_

 _"It is?" Sunset looked at the moon._

 _"Indeed. Are you still unconvinced? Then perhaps_ this _will convince you. Do you know_ why _we have a mare in the moon? Do you wonder_ who _the mare in the moon is?" He asked._

 _"Of course I do! It's a bedtime story! The story of Nightmare Moon. One day, a monstrous pony vowed to plunge Equestria into eternal night. Celestia stopped her before any damage could be done and she banished her to the moon." Sunset then paused. "Nightmare Moon is some pony she betrayed too, isn't she?" Her mouth drooped as her eyes simply watered._

 _"… Yes. Her_ sister _." Sunset ended up shaking in her hooves. "She merely wanted her nights to be cherished by the other ponies, but Celestia insisted otherwise. Eventually, she grew tired of her sister's complaints and banished her to the moon. If she can be that cruel to her own sister, imagine just how cruel she can be to_ anyone _._ That's _why I vow to snuff out the light. So what do you say?" He asked her._

 _"…" Sunset merely looked to the castle, her horn alit with her getting a cocky grin. "I don't want to snuff out the light." She then ran towards the castle. "I SHALL REPLACE IT WITH MY OWN!" The man just smiled as he faded away in a shimmer of light, leaving behind a few swan feathers as they floated away._

* * *

"Rose, talk to me, what's going on?" Tracer spoke into her phone as she ran through the streets, blue streaks lighting up the night sky as she continued to run.

"There's a bunch of Grimm on the horizon. Way more than we could account for!" Loud energy blasts punctuated his sentences, causing Tracer to clench her teeth when she heard them. "They seemed to be heading towards-" That's when Tracer ran into the claw of a large black furred werewolf with bones jutting out of its body and its face covered in a skull like mask that was decorated with red tribal markings. Tracer fell onto the ground before she got up and saw the creature. She recognized it as a Beowolf-class Grimm, but it was slightly larger and had more sharp bones.

It roared and tried to pounce on Tracer before a violet-colored slash cut the wolf in half. Its remains began to fade away as the sword that cut into the Grimm boomeranged back to its holder.

"Shadow! Thank God you're here! We need all the help we can get! Grimm are-"

"Fall back." Shadow merely spoke in the coldest tone she could.

"Fall back?" Tracer got up and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. This isn't the first time I've seen this many Grimm at once." She said. Tracer looked to Shadow as she sighed. "The last time this happened…" Shadow froze for a bit before holding the side of her belly. "Urg…" She grunted. Tracer merely stood back.

"Are you alright?" Tracer asked. Shadow nodded. She then let go of her stomach and looked to Tracer. She paused a bit before she took her hand to her mask. As she took them off, she showed her eyes to Tracer. Tracer stepped back a bit, if only because of just how vivid her golden eyes were. Not only that, but Tracer can't help but admit that Shadow was beautiful underneath the mask. Though that was only before Tracer noticed the tears from her eyes.

"The last time this happened, my friends and I got hurt. Buildings were destroyed. People _died_." Her voice cracked. Tracer stopped moving. For a moment, she was a statue. However, her ring tone managed to break her concentration. She went for the phone.

"Talk to me." Tracer said.

"Tracer, it's Cam! Rose is still holding off the Grimm, but some are slipping his notice!" Cam said. The two then felt rumbles on the ground. Shadow turned and saw a gigantic black elephant with the same bony structure and tribal markings as the Beowolf. It stampeded across the street, knocking away cars and stoplights before running into Shadow. Tracer ran and got Shadow out of the way. As the two got up, they saw a few Beowolves latching onto the elephant.

"That's not good!" Shadow said.

"Cam, where are the Grimm going?" Tracer asked.

"Let me see… They seem to be heading… Oh God!" Cam asked.

"What? What is it?" That's when Shadow got up and shed a few tears.

"It's happening again…" She cried. It didn't take Tracer too long to figure out where they were heading. She then ran off, hoping to beat the elephant there.

* * *

"If I may have your attention, please!" Celestia had the envelope ready. I knew I had to get to the stage pronto. I pushed some of the students aside as I went on the warpath to the stage. "Although there weren't a number of votes, there were enough to decide a clear winner." She then proceeded to open the envelope. That's when I marched onto the stage.

"Atatatatat!" I spoke up as I snatched the envelope from her hands.

"Professor Silverbolt, just what do you think you're doing?" Celestia glared at me.

"As a teacher in the science department, I am meant to promote the idea of making a _well-informed_ decision. And unfortunately, these students are _not_ well-informed." I said.

"Silverbolt, give that back this instant." Celestia said.

"Hang on…" I opened the envelope and pulled up the result. I read the paper and instantly groaned. "Really? Only seven people voted." While the results were a landslide in my favor, I began to feel a rush. I looked to Sunset and began to imagine her as Ashley. All Celestia could do was pound her foot and pester me. I merely glared daggers at Celestia and began to have a smirk.

This was it. This was the moment where I betrayed Celestia. Where I usurp all power from her. In this one moment, I would experience a power rush that rivaled Ryoma's own rush when he finally staged his coup against Takatora.

"I propose we extend the voting by just a few minutes… Because that's all I need to convince you of who to vote." I took Colorful Commercial from my pocket. I placed him on the podium as it began to play video footage of Sunset recording the battle between me and Fatty. It then switched over to her editing the video to purposefully look like we picked a fight with him instead of the other way around. It soon switched to her talking with the goth about invading Equestria.

Though, the kids were _not_ convinced. By the time it showed Sunset trashing the gym with tears flooding her eyes, I smirked as the kids gasped. It then showed how Twilight and her friends managed to fix up the gym. It continued to show Sunset harassing some of the students to get her votes all while Twilight and her friends comforted those exact students. I turned to see Celestia merely face palm. I was tempted to laugh, but I felt it would be over the top. The footage ended as I took the Shift Car and placed it in my pocket.

"Tell me now, who's the _real_ psycho?" I asked. In an instant, the students all turned to Sunset and booed at her. The moment I saw Sunset glare at me, almost about to pop a blood vessel, I began to cackle like the mad scientist I was dressed up as. Finally. Perfect. Sweet. Revenge. "It's already unanimous," I turned to Celestia, "so I doubt we need _this_ anymore." I tore up the envelope. "Twilight, congrats, you won in a landslide!" Twilight just looked at me. She looked around and saw the students nod. But as soon as she got up onto the stage…

"Help!" Spike cried out as Sunset ran off with him in her hands.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" I screamed out. Twilight and I began to chase Sunset as some of the students, Twilight's friends included, followed.

It was just one bitchy bully being chased by half the student body. Part of me wanted this to happen every day when I was in school. Another part just smiled so wide, you could have thought I inhaled some Joker Venom. As we ran, I saw the flurry of rose petals as Ross ran alongside me.

"Joining in the hunting season?" I asked.

"What the hell were you thinking? You destroyed her reputation! Sunset's just acting desperate!" Ross said.

"She did this to herself!" I barked back. I saw Sunset run off around a corner across a hallway filled with windows. As we tried to catch up, a large freaking elephant ran across the hall, shattering the windows and destroying the hall. Some werewolves hopped off the elephant as Ross and I stopped in our tracks.

"Grimm…" Ross muttered. I turned the ignition as I muttered the word:

"Henshin!"

Transforming into Gold Drive, Banno ran to attack one of the Beowolves while Ross took out his scythe and cut through the other Beowolf.

"Go! We'll hold them off!" Ross shouted. Twilight and her friends complied while the rest of the students no doubtedly ran back. Banno sidestepped the claw of his opponent before punching the Grimm in the gut and then roundhouse kicking it to oblivion. One more Beowolf was left, but before any of us could move, I heard the sound of tiny pistols blasting out. The Beowolf began to get mowed by what appeared to be bullets of pure plasma.

"Cheers, love! The cavalry's here!" I saw Miss Oxton holding two pistols and sporting a goofy smile before she began to pant. Ross just turned to me.

"Yeah… See, there's this superhero league and Oxton is one of them and-"

"And the rabbit hole just goes deeper and deeper… Look, I have someone to stop, so if you excuse me…" Banno ran off, out of the exit that the elephant had made. I could feel Ross and Oxton beginning to follow me.

* * *

"Let go of Spike!" Twilight cried out to Sunset just as the two were in front of the statue. Twilight's friends caught up to her as Sunset began to laugh.

"Alright then…" Twilight tensed up as she feared the worst. As she closed her eyes, she waited for the painful moment where Sunset would torture Spike to break her…

Instead, he felt Spike climbing up to her. She blinked for a moment.

"I'm not a monster, Twilight." Sunset said.

"Yeah, right! You bully people left and right and break their hearts! I doubt you can even _feel_!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"There's a difference between what _I_ do and what a monster would do. For one, I would have just smashed Spike in with this!" She pulled out a sledgehammer from her coat. She grunted a bit as she lifted up the steel attached to a wooden shaft. "But instead…" Sunset began to smirk. "You know something, Twilight? I wish to make a deal with you. Give me the crown, and I'll let you and Spike return to Equestria… You don't? I smash this and seal you in this realm forever!" Sunset held the hammer, pressing all her strength into positioning the hammer for the right swing. "Of course, there's the alternative. We stand still and this portal closes, sealing you here either way!" Twilight stood still.

"Twilight, don't do it!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, we got this!" Applejack prepared herself, only for Sunset to twitch her muscles.

"I bet I can smash this faster than you can stop me." Sunset said. Rainbow Dash only growled. However, that's when the group heard what could be the worst sound they could ever hear.

A mad scientist driven to the lowest point of sanity laughing hysterically. The girls turned to see Banno walk down towards the statue.

" **Stop bluffing. My host has been doing some digging around last night.** _ **You**_ **need the portal more than Twilight does.** " He said. I saw Sunset lower the hammer for a bit. " **Even if you** _ **are**_ **intent on being a woman of your word, which I highly doubt, all I have to do is make your entire body so heavy that it would feel like time has slowed down. While** _ **I**_ **,** " Banno then pulled out the Door Gun, " **can move freely. I bet I can shoot you faster than you can break the statue.** " Banno said. I could see Sunset tremble. Banno merely chuckled as he stepped forward. " **Tick tock, Sunny…** " He sang out in a slow and eerie lullaby. That was when he froze. I could sense it, our time as Gold Drive was running out.

"Banno, switch!" I said to him. Banno just groaned as his fingers reached to the ignition. That's when I saw Sunset smirk.

"Seems you're locked to a cage. Luckily, I'm an opportunist. The Element of Magic can grant me unlimited power. It might grant me enough magic to free you." Sunset said.

" **Hmph… And what is there to say that you can't?** " Banno asked.

"Well, if I can't free you, I'll let you have the first hit." Sunset said.

"Banno, don't do it!" … What the hell am I trying to say? I know what Banno's first response will be.

Banno invoked Slowdown as he walked towards Twilight and took the crown. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond, followed by Ross and Oxton. All three of them threw a punch towards Banno, only for him to walk towards Sunset and cancelled his Slowdown, causing all three of them to collide into each other thanks to their super speed. Banno merely walked to Sunset as the other girls tried to go to him.

Pinkie Pie teleported to Banno, only for him to teleport behind Pinkie Pie and continue his walk. Rarity tried to throw an explosive gem at him, only for Banno to casually launch an energy lance behind him at the gem, creating a giant explosion. Applejack ran to Banno and grabbed him, her strength stopping him from reaching Sunset. Sunset, however, chuckled and went to him. She took the crown from his hands.

"Finally, after all these years, I finally have the power!" Sunset laughed as she placed the crown on her head. As Applejack tried to stop her, something happened. Sunset's eyes began to glow in an orange aura as she began to float up into the air. Waves of fire began to circulate around Sunset Shimmer before creating a shockwave that knocked Applejack back, causing her to fall and creating ripples of orange aura around her. Sunset was soon concealed in a cocoon of flame as we all heard her screaming. These screams, however, turned into laughter. As the flames died, a monster had taken Sunset's place.

It had Sunset's hair, but it flowed like fire. She had blood red skin and devil wings with some holes in them (I wonder how the hell she uses them to fly), she wore clothes that were burning like fire (obviously a pattern here), pointy ears and black eyes with only cerulean lights coming out of them.

"Yes… I can feel the power!" She cackled.

" **Now, test it out. While I have time, that is.** " Banno said.

"Of course…" She waved her hand and I felt the one thing I never thought I would ever fear feeling:

Banno being off of my waist. Gold Drive's armor came off of me as I saw the belt levitate towards Sunset as she gave a smile that only Satan could adore, what with the pointy teeth and all.

"See? I told you it could work… But, I'm curious… How much more powerful would I become if I were to put _you_ on?" She said.

"No! Don't!" I shouted. Sunset only smiled more.

"All the more reason for me to put you on, right?" She asked.

" **Yes…** _ **Start my engine!**_ " Banno said. Sunset grabbed Banno and placed him on her waist, a belt forming on her waist.

"This is more than I ever dreamed of! More power! Yes! Unlimited power! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She and Banno began to laugh as I saw something that Banno never showed off for a long time. Tendrils came out of Banno, each with very pointy blades at the end of them. These were the tendrils used to kill 006 and…

And…

My eyes widened as Sunset's laughing stopped cold as Banno's tendrils impaled right into her skull. Banno continued laughing.

" **YOU IDIOT!** **BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FINALLY! I AM FREE TO DO WHAT I WANT! And I know what to begin with.** " Banno's voice came out of Sunset's mouth. I looked around and everyone else felt the same fear as I did. No doubt I could guess that they were concerned for Sunset's well-being. However, I was afraid for a completely different reason. " **I'll erase you off the face of the earth! I won this race, after all!** " As his fingers reached the ignition, I knew my fears would be realized with just one little word:

" **Henshin.** " As he turned the ignition, his body erupted into a burst of flame. Gold Drive's armor came onto Banno, but along with it was fire that seared the armor until it created a long red cloth that hung off of Gold Drive's belt, draping over the black spandex. Red pauldrons that were molded to look like fire were placed on Gold Drive's shoulders. Perhaps the most notable feature was his helmet. It was more akin to a Roidmude's helmet, with a smiling set of shark teeth as the mouthpiece and the spoiler on his head replaced with devil horns. The eyes were the same cyan that the demon had, though on the outer edge were a shade of orange. Banno levitated in the air as he looked at his arms.

" **This… This power is exactly what I need to destroy those who would stand against me.** " He laughed and raised his hands, creating pillars of fire around him. I could only watch as the world began to burn around me. I could only stand as what would likely be my executioner stared down at me. The moment I feared since he spoke was realized:

Banno is back.


	8. How Will The Sun Set?

Fire…

Principal Celestia couldn't help but look at the blazing fire coming from her courtyard from her office window. She could only look and frown.

"I'm sorry." Celestia turned to see the Headmaster. She took a moment to realize that this was him in the flesh. Usually she'd have to come to _him_ or talk with him over ChatNoir. "This is all my fault." He walked forward. Celestia merely winced as she saw him walking with a cane to support him.

"What's going on?" Celestia asked.

"The Fall Formal… When I helped restructure the school board, it was my idea to have CHS hold the Seasonal Dances. A means to give the students importance and fulfillment. Had I known this would happen…" He kept his head down and just walked slowly to the window to observe the blazing chaos that unfolded.

"What are you talking about?" Celestia glared at the silver-haired man.

"Do you know why there's never a Prince of the Fall Formal? Because when I created the Seasonal Dances, I had an old fairy tale in mind. One of an old man being greeted by four sisters, one representing each season of nature." He said.

"I… haven't heard of that tale." Celestia said.

"For good reason." As he said this, he reached the window. He could feel the heat from the glass alone, though he passed it off as him sweating. "In that tale, the old man was so awed by the girls' kindness, he returned it by granting them magic. Magic that was so powerful…" He sighed. "When I warned you about the Fall Formal, _this_ was what I was worried about. A Princess of the Fall Formal inheriting that very same magic."

"So… You mean that Sunset is some sort of… wizard?" Celestia asked.

"No. She's become something else. She's become more than Princess of the Fall Formal… She's what I would consider…" He closed his eyes. "The Fall Maiden." That's when he heard cackling. He opened his eyes and saw what would appear to be a belt latching itself onto the monsterish Sunset Shimmer, and then a few moments later, transforming into an armored version of that devil. Celestia's eyes widened as she saw this happen. The Headmaster could only think of one thing now:

It's all over.

* * *

 **BLAM!**

Ross opened fire onto Banno as soon as he processed what happened.

"Give Sunset back, you bastard!" He screamed. Banno just deflected the bullets with his hand, no need to tap into Golden Energy.

" **No. She's my new puppet for this world's domination. And once I take over this world, then I'll focus on destroying my bastard of a son, his bitch of a sister, and finally, that traitorous Krim and his meat puppet!** " Banno shouted as he raised his hand up. I saw a glowing orange circle appear underneath Ross as a bird's screech could be heard.

"Ross! Look out!" Rainbow Dash ran forward and knocked Ross out of the way as the circle exploded into a pillar of flame.

" **Hmm… Perhaps I'll experiment on these powers by dealing with you all!** " Banno shouted. That's when I noticed a horde of black and white creatures. No doubt Grimm. " **I prefer to keep this experiment… closed off.** " Banno then created a wall of fire as the Grimm ran into it. Some of them made it through, only to succumb to being on fire, turning into smoke in the process. Banno then let the firewall cool down. Well, guess we won't have to worry about the Grimm for a while.

"Sunset! Sunset!" Banno turned his attention to Sunset's two lackeys, the fat and skinny students. "Can _we_ transform too!?" He asked. Banno just looked to them and darkly chuckled.

"Hey! Get away!" I screamed out. As much as I want to see retribution to a couple of bullies, the safety of my students was a concern I have obtained through my brief time as teacher. They just stood there as Banno raised both his hands, turning into the golden digital energy I know… That's when the energy turned dark blue, almost like an inversion. He shot two beams right at the students. Their bodies began to fade away into blue bits of code… before it turned dark purple. Their bodies returned to normal, but the shade of purple remained in a form that almost made me shriek in terror.

Purple cracks appeared over their skin. This was something entirely different to what I or Banno had expected, as Banno merely hummed in curiosity. I ran towards the two, trying to stop the inevitable from happening. But as I reached towards them, two imp-like monsters burst out of their bodies like cocoons and clawed at me. I fell onto the ground with two large claw marks torn right into my clothing. As I looked at the two closer, I noticed that while they have monsterish features, they still had the body of a Roidmude's, it was like that of Chase's Roidmude Form, a sleek metallic body with the plate on the chest.

"Kahahahaha! Wow! That was such a ruuuush!" The blue imp chuckled. He had the plate designation of SNP.

"Yeah! To be born in just a few moments then burst right out of the Gate! This is gonna be so awesome!" The orange imp shouted. On his chest was the designation of SNL.

"[b]Gate? As in…" Banno looked at his hands as he and I made the same realization. Banno just laughed, like usual. " **To think that whole thesis on Gates and Phantoms were just musings from a grieving father!** "

"T-that was magic he just used!" Twilight ran to me and picked me up. "He used magic to turn them into monsters!" No shit, Sherlock.

"So what? He turned them into flyin' monkeys! We can kick their butts back to their sorry selves!" Applejack said.

"… No… You can't." I muttered.

"Huh?" Twilight asked as I looked at the two monsters.

"Those are no longer Snips and Snails." I said. I spared the girls from the cold truth. That Snips and Snails, when they were hit by Banno's beams, instead of turning into data like he had intended, instead had monsters born inside them called Phantoms that proceeded to rip out of their bodies, killing them in the process. Though, considering the Roidmude shape, I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate. Although the students were confused, Twilight just frowned, then glared at Banno with pure anger.

"You… Do you have any idea what you're toying with!?" Twilight growled.

" **To be frank, I don't know and I don't care…** " Banno merely snapped his fingers as the two imps flew to Twilight. Fortunately Ross managed to fire at one while Tracer shot the wings off the other.

"You took over the mind of an innocent girl," I wouldn't call Sunset 'innocent', "stole _my_ crown, and now you've turned two _more_ people into your slaves! I'll stop you no matter what it takes!" Twilight said.

"E-even if it means not being able to return to Equestria?" Spike asked her.

"… I don't care. My friends and I will find a way to return." Twilight smiled.

" **No… You will** _ **not**_ **return! Not after** _ **this**_ **!** " With that, Banno flung a fire ball right at Twilight. However, another fireball flew towards Banno's and both destroyed each other. " **WHAT!?** " That's when a puff of gray smoke appeared between me and Banno. As the smoke cleared, I saw the pale-skinned leather suited man that Sunset spoke to.

"What the hell are you doing to my pawn?" He merely barked to him.

" **I'm merely trading in a crappy car for a more efficient one. And I** _ **do**_ **have to say, you've picked a** _ **very**_ **efficient car…** " Banno said.

"She's essential to my plans of conquering Equestria. Return her to me or suffer my wrath." He glared.

" **You haven't** _ **seen**_ **true wrath.** " Banno's compound eyes then flashed as waves of fire pulsed out of his armor. The gothic man merely just slapped the waves away, his hand visibly burning but never once feeling the pain of it. He looked to his blistered and boiled hand, only to wave his other hand over it, becoming good as new.

"You're gonna have to try _harder_ than that." The man stepped forward as Banno laughed.

" **GLADLY!** " He launched a series of icicles at him. The goth just vanished into smoke. When he appeared again, he was over on top of Banno before slashing him with a dagger, the same one he showed Sunset. As Banno fell to the ground, the goth merely landed on his feet.

Banno got up and shrugged off the slash.

"You're lucky you have your armor. My dagger would have cut through you." The goth man said.

" **What a boast. But you don't have the power to back it up.** " Banno said.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of…"

" **I could say the same about me!** " With that, Banno just launched a lightning strike at him, knocking him across the ground and slamming him right into a curb. However, the man just got up and readied himself. He prepared to launch two fireballs at Banno…

 **WHIZZZZZZZ!**

Only for two hookshots to impale his hands. He looked to see…

Shit! Niko!? Niko flew in, guns out as he pointed them right to his head. Using the hookshots as rappels, he zipped in, right into his face. At point blank, he fired two large flare-like blasts.

"DIE, BITCH!" He unloaded two whole barrels before unloading the barrels and clipping two more on from ammo belts on his legs. He breathed in as he saw the smoke clear. The man's head was completely intact save for a few bruises.

"Ha… Hah… I didn't know you had it in you, my apprentice." He smirked.

"I will _never_ acknowledge a monster like you to be anywhere _close_ to a teacher…" Niko growled. I just went up to him.

"Niko! What the fuck? He was kicking Banno's ass!" I told him.

"If he wins, it's game over!" He said.

"Well, who the fuck do we root for then?" I asked.

" _You_ guys, of course!" Niko grabbed the man with his bare hands. He grunted and just looked over to me. "You're right, Kelly, the Roidmudes are _your_ problem and they _should_ be your problem. The Dark Swan…" I saw Niko look to the bleached haired man who just smirked. "He's _my_ problem." With that, the Dark Swan just raised his hand and both him and Niko disappeared into smoke.

Well great, the one person evening out the playing field is gone. Banno's strength is unbound compared to when he was just Gold Drive. I doubt Ross, even with his super speed, could take him out. I knew if I had to beat Banno, I would need a belt… With that, I turned to face Banno. I simply smirked…

Then I ran to the Tridoron.

"Kelly! What the hell!?" I heard the students call me out.

"Don't worry! This will be cool, I promise!" I hopped into the Tridoron and rode off. I looked at my rear view mirror and saw Banno deciding to chase me instead of killing the students or Ross. Good.

That's exactly what I wanted him to do.

* * *

The smoke exploded in the middle of a park in the middle of the night. Niko and the Dark Swan pushed each other out and stood off. The Dark Swan looked to the full moon.

"Everything was going to be perfect. Then _you_ ruined _everything!_ " He said.

"Granted, I didn't intend for Banno to take over Sunset, but it's a good thing I stopped your plan." Niko said.

"You… You've been a thorn in my side for _far_ too long." The Dark Swan said.

"Likewise." Niko stepped forward and began to fire at the Dark Swan. He merely just sidestepped the bursts of gas and flung some fireballs right at Niko. He shot them away, causing them to explode in a burst of fire. Niko was knocked away. He managed to use the hookshots to swing himself around a nearby lamp and flew straight to the Dark Swan, guns ready to fire.

The Dark Swan just rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist. A grayish colored field appeared all over Niko's body as he was frozen in midair. The Dark Swan just walked towards Niko.

"And _this_ is why you never fight with your Displacer. You may _feel_ like you have power, but compared to the person who Displaced you? You're… just…" The Dark Swan plunged his hand right into Niko's chest. " _Weak._ " He could feel Niko squirm as he ripped out his glowing heart. He flung his hand and knocked Niko aside, cancelling the immobilization. He looked at Niko as he got up, eyes widened. The Dark Swan just clenched his grasp over the heart as Niko began to clutch his heart. Before he could completely crush the life out of Niko, The Dark Swan felt something grip over his neck like a garrotte with tiny, razor sharp thorns...

But when he looked down to his neck, there were no thorns to be seen.

" _ **OVERDRIVE!**_ " His neck soon got overloaded with thousands of jolts. He screamed out and let go of the heart. Niko ran over and grabbed it, shoving it right back. That's when he noticed who saved him. A tan-skinned man in a white button shirt and brown cargo pants.

"J-joey!" Niko said.

"… Long time, no see." Joey stepped forward.

"Another Displaced? To whom may I have the displeasure of meeting?" The Dark Swan asked.

"Joey Chandler. And _that_ ," he pointed to Niko, "is my Displacer you're trying to kill."

"Figured he'd be another pawn of yours." The Dark Swan said.

"I'm not." Joey took out his Digivice. "I'm his friend."

"Friend?" The Dark Swan just laughed. "Displacers and Displaced can't be friends. Only a naïve idiot would think that!"

"Good thing I'm one then." He then placed his hand on the Digivice. " **BIO HYBRID DNA… FULL CHARGE!** " His body dissolved into data and in his place was:

" **BIOROSEMON!** " The Dark Swan just glared at the rose woman as she prepared her whip.

"You pick the weirdest people to Displace. No matter. You couldn't beat me, Sid. What makes you think your Displaced will be any better?" The Dark Swan created a sphere of fire in his hand before his wrist got grabbed by the thorny whip.

" **Poison Ivy!** " BioRosemon shouted as the thorns dug into the Dark Swan's wrist. He grunted as the poison seeped into his wrist. Before the poison turned into a rash, he merely cancelled the flame and cut the whip, severing its tendrils.

"Gah!" He grunted as he tried to heal his hand before a rash set in. As he finished that, he saw BioRosemon fling the whip towards him.

" **Needle Spray!** " Hundreds of tiny thorns flung themselves towards the Dark Swan. He raised both hand up and created a wall of fire that burned the thorns. That's when he saw BioRosemon jump over the flame and create a huge rose shaped cannon with his hands. As he saw that, he noticed Niko zip up behind him. " **Flower Cannon!** " Both Niko and the cannon fired at the Dark Swan.

Needless to say, he couldn't dodge the large green blast _and_ two gas powered bursts to the chest. The Dark Swan merely twitched as there two holes in his chest and his leather suit was absolutely scorched and ruined, what with flowers starting to bloom where the Flower Cannon blast exploded. He stumbled and nearly dropped. Niko went out of the way as he saw BioRosemon float above the villain. BioRosemon got out the pink Tifaret and aimed right at him.

"D-damn it! Don't think this is over! I'll return! I'll snuff out the light and Equestria will suffer!" The Dark Swan said.

" **This ends** _ **now**_ **! Forbidden Temptation!** " She then fired the large pink blast at the Dark Swan as he instinctively raised both hands up. The blast hit the pillar of smoke that engulfed the Dark Swan, spreading the smoke outwards before creating a large pink sphere of destruction that destroyed part of the pavement before clearing up. BioRosemon flew down and the bits of data consumed her, turning back into Joey. Niko ran up to Joey, only to slow down, almost to a point where he was just standing.

"What have you become?" Niko asked.

"You'd be surprised." Joey sighed and walked away.

"… To think you'd be Displaced _here_ as well." Niko muttered. A few moments passed before Niko pulled out a pistol. He reloaded the barrel as Joey stopped in his tracks. He zipped over to Joey and fired…

Right into the skull of a Beowolf. Its head was blown apart, leaving the neck a red stub as it turned to smoke.

"That's _twice_ I saved your life. Now, we're even." Niko said. Joey chuckled.

"I never properly thanked you when you saved me the first time. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to save my life even when it was beyond saving." Joey said.

"Well… You saved _my_ life… Back… Back when…" Niko just sighed as he shook off the painful memory he had. "Val misses you."

"So I've noticed…" Joey looked down.

"And… She has a kid." That's when Joey's eyes opened. " _Your_ kid."

"… When?" Joey asked.

"When we were stuck in that world. He's a cute little bundle of joy. I try to visit him once and a while…" Niko went to Joey. "You should come too. It'd probably make Val happy to know you're alive."

"… No."

"No?"

"I'm not going with you. I don't know how much time as passed since I died… Maybe Valerie has made peace with my death. Besides… I have a city to protect now and a team that needs me." Joey said.

"… Valerie hasn't moved on, at least not in the sense where she's seeing other people… She _needs_ someone to help her. If you change your mind, let me know." Niko walked off to where he was close to a brick wall and took out a small gun like device with a large green lightbulb. He shot out a person-sized green portal that began to swirl.

"You're not gonna help out?" Joey asked.

"Trust me, I _am_. I just need to get something from my storage." With that, Niko entered the portal.

* * *

I drove the Tridoron as fast as I could. Banno's possibly made me his primary target, so time was of the essence. The Grimm slowed me down, but not enough to make a dent. I employed the tried and true 'hit and run' method, some of them managing to turn into smoke upon impact. Thankfully, the laboratory wasn't far from the school. As I got onto 108 Somerset, I got out of the Tridoron and ran to the lab.

As I entered, I could feel an increase in heat followed by several high calibre rifle blasts…

Goddamn it, Ross! I had to make this quick.

I tossed out several files and vials, trying to search for the thing that would beat Banno. Luckily for me, it was right under my nose.

And just in time too, as I heard Banno smash through the entry way of the door.

" **A shame it came to this, Kelly…** " I heard Ross scream and saw his body slam right into the wall before falling onto the floor. " **We could have ruled together… But then again, I always liked to step over people.** "

"You know who else liked to step over people?" I gave a smirk and turned around. "The man I chose to dress up as: Ryoma Sengoku. And this," I held up a red belt buckle with a plunger on one side of the belt and what could best be described as a high-tech juicer at the bottom of the buckle, "is his legacy!" I slapped the belt onto my waist.

" **What the!? How did you manage to make a belt without my knowhow!?** " Banno asked.

"You remember when I was looking over the notes back when we were bailed out?" I smirked as I remembered when I looked through some papers, I made sure that I did it on a table that was above my waist, making sure that Banno's vision was blocked as I built the belt. I was somewhat glad he never caught on to that.

" **YOU BASTARD!** " Banno roared and tossed a fireball at me. I dodged out of the way, though the ball exploded, destroying much of the lab in the process. Fire began to blaze out. I only had a little bit of time before the fire incinerated the whole lab. Thankfully, I _had_ time. I pulled out a padlock, similar to the Lockvehicle, but there were a lot of differences.

First was a clear blue plastic shell. Next was the design on it: a lemon with the initials " **E.L.S.-01** " on it. And finally, the most important feature of all…

"Henshin…" By pressing the button on its side…

 **LEMON ENERGY!**

The lock opened as a zipper, going in a circle, materialized out of the sky and unzipped, revealing an endless forest of trees on the other side as a glowing mechanical lemon began to descend from the crack. I placed the lock onto a hole in the belt.

 **LOCK… ON!**

And then pulled the plunger.

 **SODA!**

Lemon juices began to build up inside as the mechanical lemon opened up and fell on me.

 **LEMON ENERGY ARMS! FIGHT POWER! FIGHT POWER! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT F-F-F-F-F-FIGHT!**

Inside the lemon, my helmet appeared in a flash of white. It was a knight's helmet with a large blue crown on it with five red jewels on its spikes, befitting the name of the Rider. A glass slice fell down in a gap between my eyes and the helmet, creating a yellow-tinted HUD for me. One thing I missed about being Gold Drive was that Gold Drive's HUD was more technologically advanced, feeding me tons of info about the battle situation.

This HUD, however, felt bare bones. There were only two bars, one on the top and one on the side, both seeming to keep a track on my enemy. There was a circle that moved where my eyes would be looking. As I gazed at Banno, it gave me only a picture of him with some stats in a very small font. Geez, I thought that the "incredible Ryoma" would have made cooler HUD. Then again, I guess I was spoiled with Banno's HUD.

The lemon unfolded, some of its peels became the cape, while a majority of its pulp became a set of golden asymmetric armor, with my right shoulder having the top of the lemon as a sort of pad. A splash of lemon juice confirmed my armor's appearance as I began to hold a red and blue bow.

" **Who… Who are you!?** " Banno asked me.

"Kamen Rider… Duke!" With that, I aimed with the bow. There was a nice, nostalgic beeping sound as it aimed right at Banno. I smirked and fired. Banno easily smacked that away, the arrow exploding and taking out a bit of the lab. I then rushed in and slashed at Banno with the blade part of the Sonic Arrow, the bow I was using. Banno just swung his hand and created a flaming version of the Steering Sword. The two blades clashed, sparks flying. I had time to glare at Banno.

" **I will** _ **end**_ **you!** " Banno said.

"This is the final lap!" I slid my bow against his sword and struck him where he truly resided: his belt. Banno staggered back. He created a series of icicles and flung them at me. I ran over, hopped over a table and kicked it down. Using it as a makeshift barricade, I shielded myself from the icicles and began to fire my arrows. I didn't aim at Banno and just fired directly where I was facing. The arrows then flipped upwards and sought out Banno, hitting him all onto the belt.

" **Gah! Y-you coward!** " Banno said.

"Only a coward would use someone else's body to do his dirty work!" With that, I jumped over the barricade, using the plunger on the Genesis Driver to juice the energy.

 **LEMON ENERGY SQUASH!**

Suddenly, four different Dukes appeared. Together with me, they all slashed at Banno, though as Banno tried to counter attack, each one of the duplicates turned into a ghost image, passing through him. As he turned around, another would "attack", only to phase through him. Once Banno had went through this a few times, I slashed him with my Sonic Arrow's blades glowing gold.

I knocked him out of the lab and approached him. Banno created another fire version, this time of the Door Gun. He fired as I responded with fire from my own arrow. The arrows and bullets collided, though I was admittedly slower at the draw, and soon I was bombarded with bullets. I fell over as Banno ran to me, gun pointed right to my face.

" **You're right… This** _ **is**_ **the final lap! And I'm about to hit the finish line.** " Banno sneered.

"Good! Because only despair awaits you there!" I aimed my bow and fired a point-blank shot at Banno's head.

" **DAMN YOU!** " He staggered before raising his hands. Winds began to pick him up as storm clouds began to form. I immediately dodged out of the way of a lightning bolt, then another, and another. " **DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIIIIEEEE!** " Banno cackled as he threw a fireball right at me as I was about to dodge another lightning bolt.

Instinctively, I sliced the lightning bolt and used its energy to slash at the fireball. There was a large explosion that knocked both me and Banno down. I struggled to get up. The HUD began to notify me that Banno was weakened, as I assume that's what the red bars around a screenshot of Banno's current state showed.

"End of the road…" I got up and lined my final shot. With my free hand, I pressed onto the plunger two more times.

 **LEMON ENERGY SPARKING!**

* * *

Ross woke up from the brief black out. As he got up, he saw Banno was missing. That's when he heard lightning bolts. Ross ran over to see the fight.

"End of the road…" He saw what he assumed to be Kelly inside a suit of cyan spandex and gray and gold armor, almost akin to a lemon. She aimed a bow at Banno…

Suddenly, Ross began to have flashes. He remembered the dreams. He remembered the arrow. He saw one person about to kill the other with the arrow. He realized what would happen.

And he wasn't gonna let it happen again.

* * *

"Goodbye, Banno!" I said. However, just before I let loose the final arrow, I heard winds picking up. Worse, I smelled roses.

" _ **PYRRHA!**_ " I heard Ross let out a cry as he tackled me, causing me to fire the arrow as it whizzed passed Banno. As we fell to the ground, I immediately slapped Ross in the face.

"What the fuck, Ross!?" I shouted. Ross could only look at me with that goddamned scary Vietnam stare. It took a while before Ross realized he was looking at _me_ rather than someone else.

"K-kelly… What… What happened?" I could only get up as Banno laughed.

" **Luck is on my side it seems, Kelly Randall! Now, to eradicate** _ **everyone**_ **in my way!** " Banno held out his arms as we all turned into golden data.

* * *

For a moment, I thought we'd be transported to a database. However, we were right back at Canterlot High. What the hell were we doing back at…

Oh no.

I could see Twilight and the others trying their hardest to fight the two Phantoms as well as the Grimm. While they were able to take out several Grimm, they were no match for the Phantoms. Applejack tried to throw a punch at the blue imp, only to shrug it off and punch Applejack right onto the ground. Rainbow Dash tried to run circles around the orange imp, only for him to trip her, pick her up, and toss her towards Applejack who was just getting up.

Rarity threw several gems towards the two, each of them exploding into various elements such as fire, water, wind, and even earth. One of them looked weakened, the orange imp, but the other seemed raring to go. He noticed Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. All of them were tired, presumably due to fighting the Grimm that had come. The four of them barely stood a chance to the blue imp as he knocked them all down.

I also saw Flash Sentry fighting the remaining Grimm and easily slashing through them with… Were those tiny Daidaimarus? The Daidaimaru, a sword that Kamen Rider Gaim used, is now in Flash's hands… and he wasn't even transformed. How? How was this possible? Whatever the case, he had himself occupied with the Grimm, too occupied to help with Twilight and the gang.

I tried to run to the group, but then I looked under the ground as it began to flare up. I heard what sounded like a screeching bird as the ground exploded into a pillar of flame. It knocked me down and separating me from the belt. My armor liquidified and I was back to my normal state.

I saw Banno floating in the air with large devil wings spread out. No doubt he send the flame at me. Soon, I saw several pulse bullets hit what looked to be a personal shield. Aura? Banno looked to Oxton who held her pistols.

"Erm… No hard feelings, love?" She gave a nervous smile. Ross just ran to her and fired a sniper bullet right at Banno's attempt at a fireball, blowing it up. What he didn't see though was that he lobbed a second fireball… right at Twilight and the gang.

"NO!" I shouted, struggling to get up. Why? Why did I shout that? The fireball exploded, pretty much burning them to a crisp. I sunk to my knees, not even sure how to respond. I barely knew these kids. And yet, I'm upset. I'm angry. I failed to save them. I only knew Twilight for a few days and yet I felt as though she was a close friend that I just… let die. Banno could only laugh menacingly before he held his hand out at me. And I just sat there.

I lost.

I'm in last place.

Banno won.

That's when I saw a magenta aura. I looked and saw the girls were being shielded by the aura. However, this wasn't the Aura that Ross had. It was more standout, in your face. Like a magical aura.

"Professor Silverbolt, I'll show you how friendship is magic. Even if I had known these girls for a brief time, my bonds have made us stronger than just mere magic." Twilight said. The group levitated in the air as a flash of light blinded me. When I opened my eyes, I saw the girls had changed just slightly. They now had pony ears and tails. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all had wings adjacent to their skin color.

Welp, now I've seen everything. Twilight and the others flew up and created a swirling rainbow double helix that turned into a beam, firing right at Banno…

However, the two imps got in the way of the blast, causing them to be engulfed in a rainbow tornado. Banno, however, managed to escape while the two fell to the ground, changed back to their normal forms.

" **Friendship? HAH! Is it truly more powerful than me!?** " Banno fired several fireballs. The magical aura managed to block the fireballs, but with each blow, I noticed the aura grow weaker. I saw Flash run out from a cloud of smoke, presumably made from the remains of Grimm that he had killed. He yelled and tried to attack Banno with his swords, only to be knocked down, his swords clattering next to him. Ross fired several rifle blasts and Banno just blocked the bullets with one hand.

I held the Genesis Driver, ready to transform, though I noticed it was charred a bit. It likely wouldn't have any functionality unless I repaired it. Shit.

Need a miracle now…

That's when I saw a green portal emerge on the ground from behind me as Niko came out.

"Yo, Kelly. This one's on the house." He told me as he handed to me…

Oh, hell yes.

The limited-edition Sengoku Driver with Duke's faceplate and the Lemon Lockseed, just as I had originally wanted. I took the two and smiled.

"Now take this monster out!" He said.

"With pleasure." With that, I turned to Banno and slapped the Driver on my waist.

"Looks like Friendship won't be the _only_ magic that'll beat you, Banno! HENSHIN!" I activated the lock. Like before, a lemon appeared, though less mechanically advanced. I did the same motions as before, though this time, I cut into the lemon with a small plastic knife.

 **LEMON!** **LOCK ON! COME ON!** **LEMON ARMS! INCREDIBLE RYO~MA!**

The armor unfolded, flaps still becoming the cape, but now the armor was more symmetrical, with all sides unfolding to their respective spots on the body. I held a rapier this time. I just looked to Banno, rapier pointed right at him.

" _Now_ is the final lap. Ross!" I shouted.

"Right!" Ross leaped up and fired his rifle on the ground, causing him to propel up to Banno and slash at him. Likewise, I leaped into the air and struck him with my rapier. I couldn't really fly, so I landed onto the ground. I looked back to Twilight.

"Twi, we'll hold him off. You power up that rainbow tornado thingy." I said. Ross managed to stay in the air longer, dodging several fire blasts from Banno.

"Got it!" Twilight said. Ross maintained himself in the air. He curled himself into a ball and flew to Banno like a grayish blob. Banno tried to strike, lighting his hand on fire so as to burn Ross, but he managed to fly past Banno, grabbing his back. Ross got his scythe over one of Banno's wings and pulled the trigger, the recoil causing it to outright amputate it. Banno screamed as he fell. I ran to him, as did Oxton. Oxton fired her pistols at Banno, though it did nothing to whittle the shield. It had to be a direct hit, I noticed.

"Oxton! Get closer to him!" I shouted.

"Okay, love!" Oxton then rushed over to Banno. He held up his hand and tried to fling a stream of fire, only for Ross to bonk him with the blunt end of his scythe. When Banno recovered from that, he noticed a small little bomb beneath him. "Here's a present for ya!" She then grabbed Ross as the two of then went back to her original position, as though they were flying back through time.

The bomb exploded, knocking Banno into the air as I saw the ripples that signify an Aura Break. As he landed, I prepared to attack, but that's when I saw Flash cut into Banno with his Daidaimarus. I had so many questions to ask Flash, but now was not the time.

"Professor… I'll make this my fight too!" Flash said. I just sighed.

"Aright." Your funeral. Banno stood up and saw the four of us readying our weapons.

" **Come at me if you dare! I'll destroy you all!** " We all ran at him as Banno laughed. Ross and Oxton both fired their weapons point blank at Banno. The pulses caused his shields to lower slightly while Ross' high calibre blast shattered some of his armor, leaving me a good space to cut right into him with the rapier. While it was made to be a stabbing weapon, I swiped fast enough to cause more sparks to fly, taking off more of his armor. Most of his chest armor was gone, revealing Sunset's demonic dress underneath.

Flash began to slash away at his back. Although not being able to dish out heavy damage like Ross' rifle, out of all of us, he managed to do the most damage, causing Banno to get onto his knees. Banno screamed and slammed his hand onto the ground, causing a massive shockwave that knocked us down.

" **I won't go down like this! I will take over the world!** " Banno laughed even harder than normal. I got up, my belt still functional to keep my armor.

"No… I'll make sure you die for real!" I said.

" **Kelly, my friend… We were a good team. Surely, you don't want that to end.** " Banno said.

"… We are a good team, yeah." I used the knife to cut the Lockseed. "But that doesn't mean we're friends." I cut again. "Thank you, Twilight," I looked at Ross, Oxton, Flash, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, each one at a time, "for showing me what a true, _true_ , friend is." One final cut. At the same time, Flash did the same thing.

 **COME ON!** **LEMON SPARKING!**

 **SOIYA! ORANGE BURSTING!**

Flash's swords glowed orange. He struck with both, overlapping into an X shape. It cut into Banno's back, staggering him enough for me to land the final blow. As the rapier glowed with the same golden energy that I used as Gold Drive, I leaped into the air and as I landed, I stabbed the Banno Driver with the rapier. Lightning emerged from the belt as Banno just let out a painful wail.

" **KEEEEELLLLLLYYYY!** "

"Banno… This… is _truly_ the end of your terror." I turned to Twilight. "NOW!" I shouted. Twilight activated the rainbow beam again, engulfing the two of us in a large tornado of rainbows.

"SUNSET!" I could hear Ross shout while we were inside the tornado. Banno let out a weakened rasp.

" **Kelly… Do you truly think this is the end of me? I came back from death twice now. At this point, me coming back won't be a possibility. It will be an** _ **inevitability**_ **.** " Banno used the last of his energy to give one last laugh.

"Then I guess I'll have to put you in your place when you come back." I pulled out the rapier as Banno went limp. He fell and exploded. As the smoke cleared, Banno was gone and in his place was a weakened Sunset Shimmer who was thankfully back to her human form. As the tornado died down, I saw Ross, Twilight, and her friends rush to Sunset.

"No! Sunset! Wake up!" Ross began to shake Sunset. I then noticed the visible wound I inflicted onto her waist. There wasn't any blood, but seeing that small little hole caused me to drop my rapier. I closed the lock and pulled it out.

 **LOCK… Off…**

And my armor went away. The others ran to see Sunset while I just backed away. My body shook. Wasn't this what I wanted? I wanted to stop Sunset from being a bitch… But… I looked at my hands.

No. I had to stop Banno. There was no other option. I could feel someone's hand pat me on the back.

"You did good. Couldn't have been prouder myself." I slapped Niko's hand away.

"We're not friends and we never will _be_ friends. You could have helped us, you know." I glared to him.

"But I did. That belt is the very reason you won." As soon as Niko said that, I ran and grabbed him by the collar.

"And _you're_ the very reason this was even a mess in the first place!" I growled.

"I wasn't the one who picked Banno." He smirked… Shit, he had a point. And even if I picked someone else, chances are I wouldn't have been able to stop the Roidmudes, even if I had picked normal Drive or even Mach or Chaser. Then again, I had no idea I'd be fighting Roidmudes. I sighed and shoved him.

"Just make sure no more Grimm come." I muttered.

"That won't be an issue." I heard a new voice and turned around. I saw a man with tanned skin. "Me and Shadow took care of the remaining Grimm. Well, mostly me." He frowned. "Shadow's out of it."

"And you are?" I asked. Niko just stepped forward.

"Joey Chandler. My _other_ Displaced." I looked to Joey and just sighed.

"So, you're roped into his bullshit too?" I asked.

"No. I chose to be Displaced." I saw Joey and Niko share a bit of a stare. It wasn't the awkward 'we had a bad history' kinda look. It _did_ imply they had a past together at some point.

"Well, hope to see you again, I guess. I gotta attend to a wounded student now." With that, I ran. As I stopped, I noticed the giant crater I created. My jaw dropped at how powerful the blast was… Then I saw Sunset crying. On one hand, I smirked. She's finally put in her place… But on the other hand, I can't help but feel pity. This whole time, I went about this thinking about Ashley. That it was _Ashley_ that I was exposing.

However, when I saw Twilight help her up and heard something about learning friendship, I knew exactly where the crazy train was going, _especially_ with what little I knew of the show.

"EX-CUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS?" I shouted and approached Twilight.

"Huh? What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I can't help but notice you are gonna forgive the person who made your life a living hell." I said. I could see Ross glare daggers at me.

"Kelly, she's in need of friendship." Twilight said.

"She _drove_ friends apart! She made them think they were liars and assholes! She had us accused of murder! She even tried to murder _us_!" I paused for a moment. "Okay, _Banno_ tried to murder us. Point still stands though." Twilight was about to speak when Sunset spoke up herself.

"It's… It's okay." She sighed. "I… I did a ton of terrible things here. I… I understand if you won't forgive me. Or any of you." Sunset just continued to cry before Ross came down the crater and hugged her from behind.

"Sunset… Don't worry. I forgive you. I'll be there for you. Just like how you were there for me." He said. Blech! I could hear some of the girls awwing at her. I could just see Sunset cry even harder. Twilight just stared at me. I groaned.

"Oh, all right…" I then skidded down the crater myself and approached Sunset. Kamen Rider had its fill of evil characters who became good… But most only did so through realizing the pain they put on others and the price they had to pay. "I won't forgive you, yes. _But_ , I can say that I approve of you making up for what you've done. If everyone else is cool with it… Then I guess I'll be too. But I will warn you. You toe the line of evil again? Then you won't find mercy from me." I glared at her.

"Kelly!" Twilight then got down onto the crater and pulled me to the side. "What the hay?"

"Sorry, but just because someone plays the 'I'm good' card doesn't always mean they're legit. But hey, now Sunset has incentive to be good." I said.

"Incentive? You're threatening her!" Twilight said. That's when I heard Applejack and Rainbow Dash come down.

"Yeah, well, hate to break it to ya, Twi, but Kel has a point." Applejack said. "She tricked me and the others into hating each other for _years_. We've only just _now_ mended our friendship. … Knowing it was _Sunset_ that said those things to Fluttershy… It's hard to just _be_ friends with her." She frowned a bit before turning to me. "But, I'm gonna make sure she's honest about it. We won't need you to keep her in line." Applejack smiled.

"Yeah. I'm gonna have her do some serious trust tests before I start considering her a friend." Rainbow Dash said. I turned to see Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie tending to Sunset. I sighed.

"Well, she has friends regardless." I muttered. "Have her count up her crimes. _Then_ I'll consider her a friend." I said. I almost tripped over something on my way up. I looked down and noticed the Banno Driver. I picked it up and observed it. "Hey, do you think forgiving people, even when you know they're villains and are bound to be evil again, is a dumb thing?" I asked.

"… I never really considered. I know someone we befriended who is like that. I'll have to see." Twilight said.

"Good. I guess I'll experiment as well." I said.

"What are we waiting for! LET'S BOOGIE!" Pinkie shrieked out.

* * *

The dance resumed almost instantly. True to Joey's words, the Grimm didn't decide to bother anyone for the night. Given what they're attracted to, I could only assume that once the main source of upset was called off, the Grimm stopped noticing. It's a little worrisome that such negativity could call forth a shitstorm of monsters.

With the Roidmudes, I only need to worry about them attacking on a weekly basis and I have the knowledge that their number are very scarce, even more considering I took out about two dozen by now. The Grimm? I don't even know if they have a limit. From what Ross and Sebastian said to me, they _have_ no limits. High school is what I consider the most toxic place next to the internet. That thought alone made me worry what'd happen if this school ever had to deal with cyber-bullying.

"And that's when Flash Sentry took out these orange blades and started cutting those creatures!" I was with Rainbow Dash as she was talking about Flash's accomplishments to a little kid with purple hair and orange skin. She seemed to be grinning from ear to ear. I wasn't sure what her relation to Rainbow Dash is, nor was I too interested to check. I walked around a bit.

Twilight and Flash had their slow dance. Applejack and Rarity were gossiping by the punch bowl. Pinkie was chatting it up with the DJ. And Fluttershy was just sitting by a wall, all by her lonesome. I walked to her and sat next to her.

"Oh! Professor!" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Hey." I kept silent for a moment. I wanted to form the right words to say to her. "When… When you got that text from Rainbow Dash… How upset were you?" I asked. Fluttershy just looked down and shed a tear.

"A lot. Rainbow meant the world to me and… when I got the text from her calling me a dy…" Fluttershy trembled. "Sorry. It's just…"

"So why forgive Sunset? She's the one who called you that." I said. Fluttershy stopped trembling.

"Because… I feel like people have the potential to change, no matter how bad they are. Tachibana for instance..." Fluttershy just smiled briefly. I just sighed and looked at the flooring of the gym.

"I guess… I guess I have my views on who should be forgiven." I had to admit I had a tough time forgiving a villain in Kamen Rider Gaim once he saw the error of his ways and began to redeem himself. Only because he spent his time as a villain being a little shit.

"And it's okay that you do. I just hope you and Sunset get along." She said. That's when I noticed… Where were Sunset and Ross?

* * *

Sunset stood outside the school, waiting by the statue. She shivered in the dead of the night, though her leather jacket kept her somewhat warm.

"Something wrong?" Ross approached her.

"Ross… I… There's something you have to know. I'm… not of this world." Sunset said.

"You're… a Displaced?" Ross asked. Sunset took a moment before shaking her head.

"No. I'm from another world. This statue can take me back there." Sunset said.

"So… Why aren't you going?" Ross asked.

"I… I don't know if I want to. When I left, I was just as much of a jerk as I was this past month. Selfish, obsessed with power… I… I even burned bridges with someone who was like a mom to me. When I return… Will I be scorned?" Sunset began to cry.

"…" Ross just wrapped his arms around her. "If those girls can forgive you, I bet she will too."

"I know… But… There's so many things I wanna ask her… The night I left, I became so disillusioned with her that I began to be convinced that she's nothing but pure evil. What if she _does_ forgive me, but I can't help but see her as a monster?" Sunset then went on her knees and grabbed the stone base of the statue. "And… I only have thirty minutes to decide!"

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"This statue is only open for a limited amount of time. Once that's up, it won't be accessed for another thirty moons… And… I don't know how long that is in this world. I don't have enough time!" Sunset said.

"Then _make_ time. You're not ready yet. You just got possessed by a belt and gained… whatever the hell that kind of power was. You just realized the error of your ways. Take your time. You _will_ get a chance. Trust me." Ross just hugged Sunset for as long as he could.

"Stop… I… I don't want you to pity me…" Sunset began to cry. "I used you like I used those boys! You saw me for who I truly was! I don't need you to feel sorry for a monster like me!" Ross only hugged tighter.

"I've seen monsters, Sunset. And you're not one." He turned Sunset around and kissed her on the forehead. "You're an angel. And you just don't know it yet." Ross smiled. Sunset looked at Ross and smiled back briefly before looking away.

That's when Ross noticed something off. He heard someone approach the scene.

" **How sweet. However, we can't let a traitor have his happy ending…** " Ross heard a metallic voice. Instantly, had Sunset crouch to the ground and took out Crescent Rose.

 **WHOOO-WHOOO-WHOOOSH!**

As soon as Ross heard the movement, he swung Crescent Rose at the assailant.

* * *

I continued to observe the dance, walking around. Seems Oxton had left, her job now done for the time being. Hadn't seen Niko or Joey as well, so I presume they left. I decided I'd take the bullet and find-

"Professor Silverbolt." Principal Celestia approached me. Right on cue. I turned to greet her, only to notice she wasn't alone. There was a man with her. He looked to be old, what with his graying short, bowl-cut hair, yet at the same time, he looked younger than he lets on. He walked with a cane, though I could tell from his statue that he didn't exactly need it. He wore a black suit with a green turtleneck underneath. He also wore tiny spectacle sunglasses, almost akin to Ozzy Osbourne if his shades were so tiny they barely covered his eyes.

"Ah, Celestia, I apologize, but these kids are in the wrong generation to know who Ringo Starr is." I had to remind myself that this world probably didn't have the Beatles.

"Do you have any idea how reckless that stunt you pulled was?" Celestia glared at me. "Twilight would have still won, but _you_ decided to make it a spectacle and turn this entire school against one student." I smirked. I had prepared my comebacks the moment I took the envelope.

"I opened their eyes. I called attention to a bully when even you, the _principal_ , turned a blind eye to it." I said. Celestia just stared harder. "I noticed Sunset had won the Fall Formal _multiple_ times, and each time, she became obviously more and more insane in those photographs. I don't know _how_ many kids she's harassed in her life. I don't know the number of lives ruined by her. I don't even know if her bullying _claimed_ lives. But all I know is that _you_ let it go on for far too long." I said.

"It's not that." The man spoke up. He had a bit of an old voice to him, something akin to a wise king rather than a pop star. "At the time, emotions were building up. There was fear, doubt, insecurity. By showing the video of Sunset breaking the gym, you caused everyone to react negatively, and as you have seen, that attracted…"

"Grimm." I took a moment to look at him. "You know what they are, don't you?" I asked. Celestia looked to the man. This was definitely something that was not in her knowledge.

"Celestia. Leave us." Celestia's eyes widened a bit, before she decided to walk away. I proceeded to walk with the man through the dance hall. Some of the kids noticed him, but made no note of it.

"The Wonderbolts weren't prepared for an onslaught of Grimm, but with the help of you and the others, including Ross, they weren't a threat. I feared that it would be like a similar scenario, but thankfully it was not the case." He said.

"Similar? You mean that this happened before?" I asked.

"Not here." He said. I instantly concluded what he meant.

"You're a Displaced."

"No. But you're close. I'm from another world. One where the Creatures of Grimm run rampant. However, it is also a world where there is hope. Heroes like you and Ross who take up arms and fight off against them." He said.

"So, what brought you here?" I asked.

"An incident that happened about a decade and a half ago, during that scenario. And the cause of it made his presence known tonight." He said.

"So, that goth?" I asked. He chuckled.

"Funny, but he's no laughing matter. The Dark Swan, as he calls himself, is a dangerous adversary. In a realm without magic, he is harmless. However, as you have seen tonight, magic has returned and with it, so has his power." He said.

"He's not my problem though." I said.

"But he _will_. Even if you have nothing to do with him, if his ambitions line up, he will _make_ himself your problem. Just like he had with me." He said.

"So… He's someone to look out for, got it." I sighed.

"There's also one _more_ person I should notify you about." With that, he glanced at me. "Professor Silverbolt, and we both know I'm not talking about _you_." I just looked to him with a deadpan expression.

"Last I checked, he got himself eaten by some giant. I wouldn't worry too much about him." I said.

"Even so, I should say that he is _also_ from my world. For the longest time, I didn't know where he came from, but thanks to an incident last night, I was able to find out who might have been involved." He took a moment to get some punch from the bowl, poured it into a cup, and drank it.

"Foundation X." I muttered. As soon as I saw him smirk, we heard Ross' weapon go off. The man didn't flinch though. He just kept that look on his face. I look to him for a moment. I could see that he was calm. I saw some of the students beginning to run and hide under their tables, probably a safety precaution. The students don't know of the scythe.

But he does.

"So, you know what that weapon is?" I asked.

"Yes. And so far, Ross has handled it with just as much skill as the simple soul who held it before." He said. Good. Chances are Ross knows who he is. With that, I nod to him.

"We _will_ meet again." I said.

"That we will." He stood by as I rushed out. Twilight and the others followed.

* * *

As I ran out to the courtyard, I saw Ross fall onto the ground and rolling away. His scythe falling just a few feet before him. Sunset rushed to tend to him. I looked to see who he was attacked by.

That's when I saw him. Another Kamen Rider, one I haven't seen before, or rather, one I've only seen briefly. He was one of the ten Riders that came before Double, the Rider I watched. The rider wore black spandex with what appeared to be magenta armor attached to him. Parts of the armor, notably the side of the arms and legs that went into the body, were white.

Another part that was white X on the right side of his chest. His mask had bars embedded into it, a magenta base, green compound eyes that the corners seemingly 'leak out', giving the mask a fearsome look. Though It struck fear for a different reason.

Most Riders have a jewel on their forehead. This Rider lacked it. Instead, on his forehead was a familiarly-shaped plate with a three-digit number: **010**.

There were two reasons why this had me quake. The first was that this confirmed to me that this Rider's a Roidmude. It hadn't been the first time a Roidmude took a Rider's form, right down to the plate being on their head instead of their chest. The second was that, for a long time, I had speculated the whereabouts of Roidmude 010, the Paint Roidmude.

Back during the Museum incident, I had thought for sure that he was involved in it before realizing that it was his apprentice that was the true cause. Now he is right here, in front of me.

"W-who are you?!" I asked.

" **Just a passing through Roidmude King… Remember that.** " The Roidmude King. _He_ was the Roidmude King? I was expecting an evil Krim Steinbelt or even a more memorable Roidmude. Paint!? He was the second major Roidmude to be taken out by Drive right after Iron. I was expecting an evil Krim Steinbelt or even the Roidmudes' Recreator, but PAINT!? " **And** _ **you**_ **just took out our major obstacle.** " Shit. Banno was the reason these Roidmudes were so easy to take out. With him gone… " **Now, the invasion can begin!** " He then turned his head to the statue. " **Or perhaps… We shall take over** _ **that**_ **world…** " That's when Twilight exited the school and saw him.

"Oh no! He's gonna enter the statue!" Twilight said.

"We're running out of time! Twilight, you need to get to the statue _now!_ " Sunset told her. I looked to the Rider, then took out my Sengoku Driver, slapped it on my waist, and then took out my two Lemon Lockseeds.

"I'll hold him off. Twilight, run!" She nodded and ran. I opened the two Lemons.

 **LEMON! LEMON ENERGY!**

The two Lemons appeared side by side as I locked the Lemon Lockseed onto the main part of the driver. For the second part, I salvaged from the Genesis Driver its Core. I plugged it into where the faceplate was and then put the Energy Lockseed on it.

 **LOCK ON!**

"HENSHIN!" I shouted before cutting the Lockseeds.

 **MIX! JINBA LEMON! HA HA!**

The two Armors merged to create what was an old Japanese looking box. It slammed onto me as it created the spandex for Duke's outfit. As it unfolded, the armor became something akin to a kimono that samurai wore, a Jinbaori. An old Japanese robe, stylized to have lemon slices on the flaps of the robe as they set onto me. As the armor clicked and fruit juices exploded from the armor, I held both the Sonic Arrow and the Lemon Rapier.

I fired my arrow at the Roidmude King who slapped it away and walked towards me. He took out a card, a loud vroom of a motorcycle played out as he put it into the belt, having to turn it upwards to put the card in before slamming it back in its place.

 **ATTACK RIDE: BLAST!**

He took out what appeared to be a photo album and pulled out the handle, holding it like a gun. He fired, his hand and the gun splitting into five different, magenta aural copies. I couldn't hold off the bullets as they riddled my armor. It felt weird. I figured by using both Lockseeds, I'd be able to have more power than if I were to just use the Lemon Energy Lockseed.

Instead, I took as much damage as I would if I were to just use the original Lemon Lockseed. I wondered why I was so weak. Had I relied on Banno's power too much? Was the Roidmude King more powerful than I could fathom? Did Ryoma not have the foresight that he could have been more powerful if he just combined his Lockseeds?

This wasn't the time for guessing though. I had to fight and hold down the fort for Twilight to get to the statue. Especially once he aimed his gun at Twilight and fired, causing her to jump up and fall on her knees. I cut into the Lockseeds.

 **COME ON!** **LEMON SQUASH! JINBA LEMON SQUASH!**

Like before, copies of myself appeared, all readying their Sonic Arrows and Lemon Rapiers.

"Your opponent is me! I'm one half of the team that destroyed your army! Banno may be gone, but so long as I remain, you pieces of scrap will not win!" I shouted.

" **You think you're the only one with that trick?** " He pulled out another card and slammed it in.

 **ATTACK RIDE: ILLUSION!**

Like that, he too split into five copies of himself. As my copies attacked his, they faded. Meanwhile, his copies just fired, causing the illusions to be destroyed and me to take now five times the number of bullets that I took.

Though it was thanks to the timely appearance of a literal fire wall that I survived. I looked over and saw Sunset's eyes flaring up like she did when she got the crown. However, she didn't have the crown anymore… So how was she doing this? Unless the power from the crown transferred to her…

"Go! I'll protect you from his attacks!" Sunset said to me. I felt stunned. I gave her shit these past few days and yet she is _helping_ me… Right. No time to think.

Weapons in hand, I ran through the flames, not even burnt once, and slashed through the illusions. As per usual tropes regarding making duplicates, they weren't as strong as the real thing and thus they were destroyed easily. I ran to clash with the Roidmude King, who in turn pulled his handle out even further, now becoming a handle for a sword. He held it out, the edge of it unfolding until became a blade for the newly minted sword.

I swung the rapier to him, but he parried with his sword. Swinging overhead with the Sonic Arrow, my slash was met with one from him. We locked swords.

" **You think you're the first Kamen Rider I've faced? I've defeated Riders before.** " He said.

"What?" I began to remember what Niko said to me about the Riders being displaced. "It was _you_ …" I growled.

" _ **Exactly**_ **. The Riders have tried to stop our kind from being revived… I took the form of one of their own and gained the ability to use his belt, and with it, I defeated them all. Allow me to show you the spoils of that war.** " With that, he pulled out a card from the sword as he held out a card with Kamen Rider Drive's face on it. " **Henshin.** " He turned the card over, creating a loud flashing sound before he plopped into his belt, a circular camera lens-like belt with six symbols, three on each side. I took time to notice each of them.

A W, three Os, the helmet of an astronaut, a magical circle, a symbol of what appeared to be a samurai clan, and the letter R inside of a circle. These were the symbols of Double, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, Gaim, and Drive. The Riders he possibly had faced and defeated.

 **KAMEN RIDE:** **DRIVE!**

A white cylinder barrier pushed me away as red tire-like circles began to display in the cylinder. A popping song played as armor materialized and clicked themselves onto the Rider's armor. The cylinder disappeared and I saw his new form.

It looked almost like Gold Drive, but the gold was now red, the black metal now silver, and the blood red eyes now a passive white. Instead of a red circuit board, he had a tire with a red line in the center and the words of TYPE SPEED on it. This was the Drive that Banno based himself off, and now I'm seeing the Paint Roidmude doing the same thing.

" **Let's go for a ride.** " He ran to me, sword in hand and slashed at me with the sword. To be frank, fighting Drive was something I never wanted to have. Even if he was a duplicate. He tried to strike again, but I blocked him and I saw Twilight enter the statue. I saw the moon shine for a brief moment.

"There! The statue's sealed!" Sunset said. She then flung a fireball at the Roidmude King. He drew a card and slammed it in.

 **ATTACK RIDE:** **TRIDORON!**

The Tridoron drove towards him and blocked the fireball. The King then leaped over the car, changed his sword into a gun, and fired at me. I rolled out of the way. I then ran towards the Tridoron and got on it. We began to clash swords just as the Tridoron began to drive off. I tried to keep my footing on the machine as the King began to strike at my armor with his sword. He got me on my knees as I used the rapier to attack his belt.

Though sparks flew, the belt was barely scratched. I attacked again. Another explosion of sparks. The King grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. I was still able to attack using the Sonic Arrow, cutting him across his armor. Despite this, it was sturdy.

The Tridoron began to swerve, knocking both me and the King off. As we tumbled, I grabbed the ground and stood up. He flawlessly kept his footing. We both stood as the Tridoron drove itself next to the King.

" **Now… to finish you off like I had the other Riders.** " With that, he drew a card and placed it in.

 **FINAL ATTACK RIDE:** **DR-DR-DR-DRIVE!**

The Tridoron drove around in circles. Eventually it created a wall of energy that it drove around in. All while the King crouched, ready to attack. This was preparations for his Rider Kick. I decided to prepare myself as well. I cut the Lockseed three times.

 **COME ON!** **LEMON SPARKING! JINBA LEMON SPARKING!**

I leaped over to the Tridoron behind me, then used it as a springboard. The car rolled around for the King to jump and do the same thing. We both clashed in the middle of the ring as we used the car as a spring board. While I had been kicked in the chest by a powerful Rider Kick, I had slashed at his armor with the power of two highly powerful Lockseeds.

Either him or me will fall in this fight. We kept slashing and kicking in the ring before it came down to one final clash.

" **HAAAAH!** " The King roared.

"TORIYAAAA!" I responded. We came across each other, dealing our blows. The Tridoron stopped driving as we landed. It was something out of a samurai movie. The two of us standing still to see which one of us landed the fatal blow. As I heard the sparks coming from the King, I smirked. "Looks like I'm the only winner here." I turned to look at the King, who had a massive black line across his armor, crossing that where the tire was.

He fell over and exploded. I expected his Core, but instead, I saw the Drive insignia floating out of the smoke before exploding.

"What the?" I then noticed the Roidmude King, back in his magenta armor, walking out of the smoke. "You bastard! Why won't you die!?" I shouted. I then took the Lemon Energy Lockseed from the belt and placed it onto the Sonic Arrow.

 **LOCK… ON!**

I aimed. There was a long droning sound as I looked down the aiming reticle. Why? Why is the King just standing there? How was he able to come back? No matter.

This ends tonight.

 **LEMON ENERGY!**

I fired a large energy lemon towards him. He just chuckled as I saw someone leap over him and slam their fist into the ground just as the lemon hit. There was a huge explosion of fire so loud, I shielded myself. As I put my arms away from my face, I looked to see large flames. Inside the flames was a person I never saw before.

I knew from her statue and hair that she was a woman. The flames were so violent that I could only see a silhouette of her with a pair of blood red eyes. Next to her was the King's own silhouette with his green compound eyes.

" **Prepare yourself, Kamen Rider. For our war will now resume…** " With that, he laughed as the flames died down. I ran after them, but as the flames died down, I noticed they were gone.

"DAMN IT!" I shouted before I took off the belt, my armor going off. I looked to the school. I saw Sunset standing by. Most of the other students came out of the school to see what was going on, most staying away from Sunset. I glanced at Celestia as she got onto the courtyard as well. That night, I decided to make a vow.

I will win this war and stop the Roidmudes. I looked to Banno's belt. I gripped it tightly.

I knew what the next step was.

* * *

Yellow, tiny LED lights began to appear on the LCD screen of a computer. The lights began to form into a frowning face… Banno's face.

" **Aaaah, finally. I was able to back myself up without them noticing. Good thing I had kept quiet… Just you wait, Kelly. I will destroy you and take over this world! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!** " Banno laughed as his face moved to the edge of the screen…

Where it zapped him.

" **W-what the!?** " Banno looked around. Four borders encircled him. No way out. " **What is this!?** "

"The Lapis Lazuli Program." I said to Banno. He looked at me, at least that's what I felt. He was just a 2D image of some face, so I had no idea if he was actually turning his head to me.

" **KELLY! What is the meaning of this!?** " Banno asked.

"The Roidmudes are resuming their attack on this world and unfortunately, both the Genesis Driver and the Sengoku Driver lack the Core Driviars needed to counteract their Slowdowns nor the strength to fight evenly with the Super Roidmudes. As much as I hate to say it, I need you. However, you are a _very_ loose cannon. This, I created a program to keep you inside." I said.

" **Heh, you think you're smart, inheriting the brains of Ryoma Sengoku… But in time, I will break out and-** "

"Be automatically detected by my anti-virus program then be quarantined right back into the Lapis Lazuli Program. Or be deleted outright if you're able to override that." I smirked. I then pulled up the Banno Driver. "The only means for you to leave the Lapis Lazuli Program is to be summoned by the Banno Driver. In that time, we work together to beat the Roidmudes, then you go back into your little cubby hole. Rinse and repeat until all one hundred and eight Roidmudes are eradicated. At that point… Who knows? All I know for sure is… You _won't_ be out of this program any time soon…" I smirked, then walked away from the computer.

" **Wait! Kelly! Come back!** " I ignored him.

"So… Shall we start the experiment?" I slapped the Banno Driver on my waist, ready to take the new program for a test drive.

* * *

Ross and Sunset were at the mall, sitting by the fountain. Most of the adults passed by them, no problem. But the students who went to CHS, the ones who knew first hand her tyranny and ambitions, made themselves scarce and went the other way upon seeing them. Sunset sighed.

"Do you think I'll ever be forgiven for my crimes?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah. If you mean well." Ross said. He then had his hand touch the water. "I'm sorry about that whole scythe thing…"

"Don't be. I betrayed you. I made you think I was some nice girl when in reality, I wanted to drive people into the mud. It…" She hugged her knees. "It was the first time anyone as actually stood up to me outside of Twilight Sparkle. It showed me that I wasn't some perfect girl who can get anyone to do what I want. Afterwards, I began to think irrationally. I even made a deal with…" She buried her head into her knees. "That monster taking over my body… I never felt so controlled in my life… It made me realize what I was doing was wrong…" She cried. Ross just hugged her, only for Sunset to pull herself away.

"NO! I… I don't deserve this! I don't deserve a second chance! I don't deserve to have friends! I don't deserve those powers... I don't deserve you!" She got up.

"Sunset, I-"

"Please, Ross… Find someone who is an actual angel… Find someone who will be kind to you… Find someone who isn't a devil like me." With that, she ran off. Ross tried to get up, but as soon as he noticed how far she was running, just stood there.

"She needs time, love." Ross turned to see Miss Oxton approach him. "I think we all do." She frowned. Ross looked to Oxton, then sighed. He gripped his hands.

"Miss Oxton… No… Tracer. I want in." Miss Oxton's eyes opened wide.

"What, love?" She asked Ross. Ross just smirked and stood proud.

"I want to be a Wonderbolt."

* * *

The major police department downtown had been working around the clock to figure out the recent cases of monster attacks, including an incident down by an abandoned building, formerly the Everton Institute.

"What the hell are the police uptown even doing?" The commissioner slammed his hand on the desk, creating a crack on its surface. "Now there's reports of a demon attacking the school!? And I thought reports of man-eating werewolves were ridiculous." He sighed.

"They're not." He looked up to see a person who entered his office. He walked on a cane, had silver hair, his eyes obscured by tiny shaded glasses. "I have seen first hand what these creatures can do."

"Who are you? What are you doing in my office?" He asked. The old man just winced. He could see an old friend inside the commissioner. Although he had steel-colored skin and a stubble, he still wore a white uniform, had black hair with graying sideburns, even a staple on the left side of his head. He wanted to call him by the name of his friend, but he knew full well that he was in another world. The name he had there is not the same name here.

"Mr. Burr, sir, I'm here to offer you a spot in the Academia School Board. A spot that had been vacated thanks in part to what happened with Everton." He said.

"And why would I want to be in a school board? We're a police station." He said.

"If you have noticed, most of the incidents that have occurred in the past three months have to do with the schools in the board. Canterlot, Crystal Prep, Wonderbolts, even Everton. By joining this board, you will be given information of these incidents as they happen on a first-hand basis. Not only that, but you will receive young adults ready to become the next guardians of this town." He said.

"… You have my interests. But that still doesn't clear up who you are. I never saw you in this town before." Burr said.

"Because I've never felt the need to make myself known… Until now." He approached Mr. Burr. "My name is Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of the Academia School Board. It would give me great honor if you were to join the board, Iron Burr." He said.

* * *

The Roidmude King returned to his lair along with the Grim Reaper. As they walked forward, the Grim Reaper spoke up.

"You could have let me kill her. She's nothing without Banno by her side." She said.

" **Patience.** " With that, he took off the belt. His armor dissipating into ten different copies as he turned to her. The form he took was a man with black, spiky hair, wearing a black leather jacket. The sleeves and legs going into the body were magenta, while on his right pant leg, there was the symbol of his Rider's helmet. He then pulled up a small phone with ten numbers. Five of them were lit: **001, 002, 006, 008,** and **009**.

"Four Roidmudes remain. Once they unlock their true potential, they will take their place into the New Promised Number. After that, not even Banno can stop the Roidmudes. Our revolution is imminent." The Roidmude King said.

"So, what do you stall for?" His Grim Reaper asked.

"The right moment." He then snapped his fingers as four people approached him. One was a human with long black hair and steel-colored eyes wearing a black leather long coat. The other three were Roidmudes. Two of them were Cobra-classes while the remaining was a Spider-class. The three had the numbers **090, 067,** and **050**. "I shall send the Fusion Roidmudes to handle the third wave of Roidmudes. Sword, I expect you to destroy Banno's partner." With that, the black-haired man bowed.

"It shall be done, my King." As he said that, several more Roidmudes showed up. All of them wearing the cockroach-themed outfits of the Reaper Legion.

"And no Roidmude army is complete without their Grim Reaper to keep them in check." The King said.

"So, this is it? I'm finally gonna kill them?" She King turned to pat his Reaper on the shoulder and smiled as her Lilac eyes turned blood red.

"Yes. This will be the day you've waited for, my Grim Reaper…

Yang Xiao Long."

 **SHIMMERING SUNSET ARC: END**


	9. Interlude

[Author's Note: This chapter is both a bridge into the next arc as well as my side of the crossover with Jsyrin's story: Ka~Puu/CHANGE! Double Henshin Blasts the Heart with Sisterly Feelings! You can find it on ]

* * *

Despite the Roidmude King's warnings, the war didn't seem to resume immediately as I had thought. Even after a patrol with Soarin', I noted how quiet the streets were. If the Roidmude _were_ gonna invade, I'd expect the streets to be crawling with them. Though there were the occasional creatures of Grimm. Perhaps the only time where deliberately running over an animal was encouraged by a cop.

After a good night of hunting, I returned to the school, parking the Tridoron in the process. That's when I noticed the statue, the apparent portal to Equestria, shimmer. Wasn't the portal supposed to be closed for thirty moons? How long is thirty moons anyways? I inspected the statue…

Suddenly, two girls came out of the statue. Their hairstyles were distinct, as were the outfits and belts. I recognized one of them instantly. Mach's belt. Well, I'm glad Mach's a Displaced and not Gou. I asked for their names. We had a brief conversation regarding who they are and where they came from.

Apparently, they were encased in stone for a few thousand years and were from the same realm Twilight came from. How she never mentioned them is something I must ask, though I presume it was the similar case with the two brothers knowing Pinkie, yet she didn't know them. Perhaps the Twilight and Pinkie they met were not the same ones I met. We discussed a bit regarding the situation, to the point where we began to discuss Grimm.

Thankfully, I knew a guy.

* * *

"Thanks for coming with me, Fluttershy." Ross said as Fluttershy patted his back just as they were about to enter the pet store.

"Sunset's just being too hard on herself. She'll come around." Fluttershy just smiled as they entered the shop. Ross turned his head and saw Miss Oxton chat with Joey, no doubt talking about his request to join the Wonderbolts. That's when he noticed a third person: Flash Sentry.

Ross remembered how Flash used a device like what Kelly ended up using at the climax of her fight with Banno. He had no idea what differentiated the two though. Flash's device gave him weapons while Kelly's gave her armor. Yet… they looked the same. This was something he had to check with Kelly.

"You coming? Pets can be very relaxing." Fluttershy said.

"O-oh, yeah, of course." Ross said as he entered the store. In the shop, they looked at various animals, eventually ending with looking at Corgis. That was when Kelly came in with two girls. The situation was explained to Ross. The girls were Displaced and wanted to know what Grimm and Grimmudes are. The result was the two girls transforming into Kamen Riders, much like Kelly, and rushing off to fight such a Grimmude.

* * *

Double Diamond returned to his new base, smirking at the data he had received. His Grimmude creation, a Cobra-Class Roidmude fused with a Beringel, was defeated at the hands of two ZECT Riders. Mass Produced Roidmudes seemed to be weaker than the 108 that Banno made. He looked through the notes to wonder why that is. He was able to make the two fuse, so why was it significantly weaker than the Raven Grimmude?

He splayed the notes out and looked through it. Banno's collection of notes from when he pitched the idea to Foundation X, back before he grew insane from his constant failures. He would create groups of robots that would grow and adapt with humanity, eventually bridging the gap between man and machine.

There were hitches though. Even before the Core Driviars needed to give them the powers they have, they were considered imperfect. Just machines that obeyed a human's orders. While ideal for Foundation X, Banno didn't seem to like the results. He wanted the Roidmudes to be more man than machine. He wanted to give them…

Personality.

Was that it?

The Mass Produced Roidmudes were just the Roidmudes that Banno first pitched. Subservient machines that obey orders. And yet, they were easier to destroy than the usual Roidmude. They had no personality. They had no numbered Core. … They had no soul.

Souls… That's it.

He needs souls to power up his Roidmudes. Give them a personality beyond that of obedient. Even if it would cause them to take over, perhaps them succumbing to their emotions and desires might indeed power them up. That's what seemed to be the key to unlocking Super Evolution, after all.

That settles it then. All he needs to create the weapon he desired… All he needs to acquire victory…

Is in a simple soul.

* * *

Niko tossed the geode onto the desk of his hideout. He sighed. He already had a client who desired the stones. He arranged payment of a hundred US dollars per jewel. Seven hundred. Enough to support his sister and nephew for a month or two.

That's when he heard a zipper.

"You…" Niko turned around to see a woman with bleached blonde hair covering one of her eyes, a blood red left eye, and a white silk outfit that looked like Tetsuya Nomura had designed it. "You gave her the wrong belt." She said.

"I gave her _a_ belt! Like you asked." Niko glared at her.

"Why did you let her take _that_ belt, though? You should have declined." She said.

"Hey, your little problem's taken care of because of her decision to get the belt. If I had given her the Sengoku Driver like she wanted, the Roidmudes would have killed her and we'd be back to square one!" Niko shouted.

"When I let you give those belts, I intended you to give at least one of them Drive's belt. But instead, you gave the belts of two of the most villainous men I have had the displeasure of seeing to someone who might be toeing the line to evil." She said.

"And yet she managed to stop Banno anyways! I don't get why you're here. As far as I know, my work with you is _done_. Now, if you excuse me, I have a client from Universe C-137 who is requesting big money for some tiny little jewels." As Niko said that, he heard several zippers open as vines came out from what appeared to be portals to a forest, all with a zipper-like outline. The vines grabbed Niko by the arms and legs.

"I hate to use force, but you left me no choice. Your actions almost caused the creation of a monster tonight. I'm not gonna take any chances with you. There are two people that I have selected to be Kamen Riders. You will be taken to them and you _will_ give them their belts. In the meantime, I'll explore the multiverse and try to find the other Riders. When I do, you will give them back their belts. Do we have a deal?" She asked. The vines tightened.

"Do I have a choice?" Niko chuckled. She shook her head. "Fine. I'll do it. Tell me who and I'll do it." With that, the vines let go and zip away into the portals.

"I'll give you the coordinates." The woman then opened a zipper behind her and walked off. As the zipper closed, Niko just sighed.

"Crazy bitch." He took out something. He was gonna give his nephew something once he's sold the geode. An orangeish-yellow coin that had a tiger's face engraved on it.

* * *

Later that night, Ross and I dropped off Fluttershy. Ross seemed like a good kid despite siding with Sunset for a good chunk of the Formal. Eventually the two girls returned, and I handed over some Shift Cars and Signal Bikes to them, including my own Token.

It gave me time to test out using the Lapis Lazuli Program on Banno. I twisted the ignition and transformed into Gold Drive, going right into my control. I used the power of Gold Conversion as well as Dream Vegas to turn what seemed to be currency in Equestria into money for this world. After figuring out what to get for food, we went for Canterlot Sushi.

* * *

The Beowolf howled before the moonlit sky at a parking lot. It looked around, snarling. There was so much negativity that night, more than it could ever sense. There were other times where the negativity got high enough to catch their attention, but they were usually killed by what it might consider Huntsmen.

Huntsmen… Their old enemy. It growled. It wanted to feast on just one of them, strike fear into the hearts of those foolish humans… Without a leader to tell its kind what to do, it was, for lack of a better term, a lone wolf.

Finally, the Grimm found an easy prey. A man with bleached white hair and a black leather jacket. It licked its chops and began to pounce…

 **STAB!**

Only for its skull to be impaled by a silver wavy-bladed dagger. It only had a moment to see that the man in the leather jacket held it before dying to the wound, fading away into smoke before being sucked into the dagger.

The Dark Swan held the dagger in front of him as the rest of the smoke seeped into the blade. He stared at the black carvings onto the metal, including a name carved into the dagger: Emma Swan. He sighed.

"Why… Why isn't it working?" He glared into the dagger.

"If you're doing what I think you're doing, dearie, then I'm gonna tell you to just give up." The Dark Swan turned to see a pale golden skinned man with curly, dirt brown hair, wearing a reddish-brown leather robe sitting on a bench.

"The Grimm are creatures of darkness, right? So if I were to kill them and let the dagger absorb the darkness, then I could gain more power! So why… Why hasn't the blade-"

"Turned black? Well, I see that I was right. You're trying to do what another version of me did. But, here's the thing, dearie…" He got up and walked to the Dark Swan, his amber, almost reptilian-like eyes glaring to him. "He managed to absorb the darkness of all the Dark Ones. If you think a simple werewolf will be enough to create that same amount of power… Well, hate to say it, dearie, but you're doing it wrong." The Dark Swan just glared back. He held the dagger out. "I doubt you'd be able to stab mental illusions, but you can give it a try…" The man giggled.

"Shut up and let me talk with _her_." The Dark Swan growled.

"Oh, alright." The man rolled his eyes as the name on the dagger began to shift and change, almost like a slot machine. It shifted through many names before it landed on one: Nimue.

The vision of the man faded and in his place was a robed woman. However, she had the same skin and eyes as the man, scaled as though it was made of metal and amber snake eyes. The Dark Swan bowed before her.

"Nimue, I have failed you. I thought that by having the Fall Maiden by my side, I would be able to lay waste to Equestria." The Dark Swan said.

"Your failure was only because of the intervention of a third party you had no idea about. Rise, brother. You have nothing to be ashamed of." With that, the Dark Swan got up. "Is that why you seek power on par with all of us combined?" Nimue asked.

"Yes. If I have enough power, I can help you to my full extent! You want me to snuff out the light, right?" He asked. Nimue just touched the Dark Swan's face.

"Yes, I do… But you have enough power as it is. You just need… help." With that, she smirked. "You're not the only being who benefits with magic entering this realm. I detect three beings in this town who may become your new allies. With their help, I believe you can achieve our goal." The Dark Swan just smiled.

"Show me where they are, my queen." He said.

* * *

Our dinner was short lived as a Roidmdue came to attack us. Surprisingly, it was a mass produced Roidmude, eventually revealed to be made by Foundation X… Not only that, but it seemed they had been busy with a Shocker-Zangyack union… As well as Grimm attacks. It was just a clusterfuck of monsters.

Thankfully, we had our _own_ clusterfuck: the Kamen Riders. It was a quick, dirty battle, all things said and done. With the dust settled, there were a few remaining monsters to clean up. While I helped settle the girls with a hotel, the girls gave Ross the Sasword Zecter.

It was a purple scorpion machine from an old Kamen Rider show back in 2006, five years before I got into Kamen Rider. Apparently, his gimmick is that he can move very fast, a perfect counter to Slowdown. With Ross' Semblance, that would create even more speed for him.

I modified Crescent Rose to cooperate with the Zecter via Banno's ability to create seeming from his data. With that, Ross transformed into what was basically a pink Kamen Rider with a rose blooming on his head…

He will never fucking hear the end of this, I swear. We then departed to clean up the streets of monsters.

* * *

Ross rushed into the town slashing away several mooks with just his normal speed. Rose petals scattered about as he used his scythe to cleave through the clusters of monsters. Eventually, he stopped and saw a horde of freakish looking green husks. Their faces looked like an extra pair of hands were holding it as they were crying. However, they just rasped and ran to attack Ross.

Ross shot one and then dug his scythe into the ground, spinning on the pole to kick the other monster down. Both exploded into green fire. The last one, though, turned bright red before molting into a silvery-gray monster with several small holes around its armor. He had a blade mounted on his left arm and his helmet looked like that of a scorpion. He roared and ran to attack Ross.

Ross parried with his scythe, blocking the stinger-like appendage before trying to fire point blank. However, the monster just turned into a blur and ran off, appearing behind Ross and stabbing him in the back.

"Gah!" Ross fell down as the monster began to run circles around him. "… In that case…" Ross looked for any sort of button to give him the advantage. These Rider doohickeys have to have some kink to them… Ross thought. He then found a small button on top of his belt. He pressed it.

He pressed it.

 **CLOCK UP!**

Time began to slow down for Ross, but not in the same way that involved fighting Roidmudes. Instead, he saw the monster slowing down to normal speed… or rather, _he_ was moving up to _his_ speed. Ross smirked and flew off, using his own Semblance in tangent with the Clock Up, out-maneuvering the monster and giving him multiple slashes.

Indeed, he was giving the monster a beating unlike any other. And just as he was about to lay the final blast…

 **CLOCK OVER!**

He slowed down.

"What?!" Ross muttered as the monster realized that Ross was no longer faster than him. Ross managed to use his Semblance to reach his speed, though, but the two were fighting at the same speed now. And unfortunately for Ross, the monster managed to strike a few more blows with its stinger-like appendage on his arm. With one last stab, Ross could feel his Aura breaking as he is knocked down.

"Shit…" One more hit, and Ross would be done for. He struggled, trying to keep his guard up, but he stumbled down. He could feel some of the poison seeping through his blood stream. The monster, disabling his ability to clock up, took its time to attack…

And then suddenly he is shot in the face.

Ross got up to see a masked woman wearing a white long-coat holding a long sword with a smoking gun built into the hilt. Ross blinked as he recognized her.

"No way…" Ross muttered. She just ignored Ross and rushed to the monster, swinging her sword at him while it clashed against his silver armor. He tried to get a strike in, but as he hit, he saw that the woman faded into a shadow, with the real version just behind it. She fired at the monster as sparks flew. She then looked to Ross.

"Rest. I'll deal with him." She said. Ross shook his head.

"No! This is my fight too!" Ross stood up as she just sighed.

"Your aura's depleted! You can't use your Semblance anymore!" She readied herself as Ross ran to the monster, leaping into the air and bringing down his scythe upon it.

"I don't care! I'll protect this city with everything I got!" The woman just smiled for a bit.

"Heh… Of course." She then rushed into the fray as well. As soon as Ross was done his strike, the woman leaped in with her cut. The two did not let up on their attack. Whenever Ross landed a hit, the woman would follow up with a strike of her own, and vice versa. They kept at it for a bit before the monster staggered. The monster tried to speed up, but Ross managed to cut into him and stop him from going anywhere past him.

"It's funny, the more time you spend going fast, the slower everything feels afterwards…" Ross chuckled. He unloaded Crescent Rose and noticed that the stinger on the Sasword Zecter looked like a lever. So, he flipped it, then pressed it down.

 **RIDER ROSARIO!**

Red currents of lightning course up Ross' arms and all over his body. Once the lightning reached the rose part of his helmet, his silver compound eyes glowed and he ran towards the scorpion monster. The scythe's blade propped itself up, acting more like a halberd than a scythe. The woman saw him charging up and decided to do her own attack. She took out a padlock with what appeared to have a strawberry designed on it. She placed it in in a slot that was on her sword.

 **LOCK ON! 1… 10… 100…** **STRAWBERRY CHARGE!**

The woman swung her sword, creating dozens of tiny aural daggers that flung to the monster and stabbed him, the daggers exploding on impact. Ross then ran to the monster and preformed a series of ten stabs, five of them diagonally from top right to bottom left, and the other the complete opposite direction, top left to bottom right.

Ross noticed amounts of red, vicious liquid seeping from the blade of Crescent Rose. Venom? Blood? He wasn't too sure. All he knows is that, with one last slash, he would have defeated the monster.

Well, that _was_ the idea. Ross _did_ land the final blow, but as the monster landed on the ground, he didn't explode. Instead, he got up and, after turning his head to both him and the woman, ran off. Ross tried to catch up, but he fell onto his knees and panted. As he did, the Zecter pulled itself off of Crescent Rose and scurried off.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" Ross shouted. The woman then approached him.

"So… You know how to hold her weapon?" Ross remembered her voice. Ross looked at the masked woman. She sounded so much like her. Displaced tend not to match voices, which led Ross to one of two conclusions, helped with the fact that Ross eyed her sword. It was not the sword he remembered from the show.

Instead, it was a simple sword with a silver edge to one side. There was a golden strip that was lit with red juices, a padlock that was plugged onto the hilt, a gun built right into the hilt, and a symbol of a yellow lightning bolt in the middle of a blue sticker placed on the barrel of the gun.

"And _you_ don't have Gambol Shroud." Ross took a gamble.

"… So you know who I am." And he won big.

"Yes, I do, Blake." Ross stood up as the woman sighed. She took off her mask as Ross saw her face. Sure enough, Ross recognized the face of RWBY's brooding, serious Blake Belladonna. Blake then turned around and walked away.

"I'm glad… and yet, I'm disappointed that you're not Ruby." Blake said.

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"I… I don't know what I'd do if you were really Ruby. I don't want to face her. Not after what I did." Blake said. Ross was about to ask what she meant, but a voice rang in his head.

" _And Blake_ ran!" A mixture of anger and sorrow twisted the woman's tone of voice, but he still knew it belonged to Ruby's sister, Yang. Ross just stood still and lowered his head.

"I'm not Ruby. I admit that. But I'm trying my hardest to be like her." Ross said.

" _Don't._ It pains me just to see that you're dressed like her and hold her weapon. I don't want you to pretend you're someone you're not." Blake said.

"I want to be a hero. Are you telling me that's not who I am?" Ross asked.

"No… I'm saying that… maybe you should step back and look at what you have to lose before you make some stupid decision." Blake looked away with a frown on her face. "Do me a favor… Don't join the Wonderbolts. If not for me, if not for you, then… Do it for _her_ sake." With that, Blake leaped off, landing on a rooftop where she ran off. Ross took a moment before he concluded what she meant.

"Sunset…" Ross said, with any amount of joy in his voice gone.

* * *

My fight with the combined armada led me to the Canterlot High field. There, I saw three monsters stand before me. The one in the middle was a man with a large baseball for a head, wearing a baseball uniform. The other two were just an oversized armadillo and an oversized rhino.

"What's the matter, Rocksteady? Bebop didn't wanna join this?" I chuckled.

"Fear us, Kamen Rider! We are the Sportsmen Three!" The Baseball monster then posed with a baseball bat. "The Legendary Baseball Star… Baseball Mask!"

"The Mythical Soccer Star… Soccadillo!" The armadillo posed by curling up into a ball.

"The Fabled Football Star… Rhinoblaster!" The rhino touched the ground with his hands, as though he was an actual football player.

"Together we are…" Baseball Mask extended his arms outward like some sort of generic Sentai hero. "THE SPORTSMAN-" Yeah, enough of that. I shot him in the face with the Door Gun. "H-hey!"

"That's a red card violation!" Soccadillo got out of his ball form and wagged his finger at me.

"Yeah! You should be playing by the rules!" Rhinoblaster said.

"You guys are kinda late to the silly contest because pony princess won that loooooooong ago. Really, I just wanna get this over with." I said.

"Very well. We challenge you to a game of baseball!" Baseball Mask said.

"What? N-no! I wanna challenge her to football!" Rhinoblaster got in front of Baseball Mask and glared at him.

"I thought we're playing soccer! You said yourself that we were playing football!" Soccadillo said.

"WE ARE! AMERICAN FOOTBALL, YA DINGUS!" Rhinoblaster bapped Soccadillo on the head.

"How about a nice game of 'I win, you die'?" I asked.

"No! We refuse to play by the rules of the standard monster of the week! If you wanna fight us, you'll have to play baseball!" Baseball Mask said.

"Football!" Soccadillo and Rhinoblaster shouted.

"Actually, I wanna play soccer." A new voice was heard as I saw two men approach me. Both of them roughly teenage. One teen wore a beige jacket with a light blue shirt, the top part of it looking more like some ancient vase than anything. He had a bracelet on his right wrist. The other teen wore a brown biker jacket, a dark red shirt and black pants. Both had short black hair.

"And if you wish, I'll play baseball." The teen in the leather jacket spoke very gruffly, almost sounding like he could double for Kamen Rider Ichigo, the first Kamen Rider. I knew at least one of the two teens, Lapis from Kamen Rider Gaim's movie, but the other teen I couldn't recognize. Sure enough, the two of them were Riders, as they got their belts ready. Lapis had a Sengoku Driver while the other had a black belt with a red center, a callback to the old Showa Riders, though the texture made the belt sort of akin to a volcanic mountain.

Lapis took out a silver Lockseed that had an apple design on it and raised both it and his free hand over his head.

 **SILVER!**

It summoned a large, blue and silver apple over his head. Meanwhile the other teen just preformed a weird move with his arms, where he slowly waved his hands higher and higher until they were over his head.

"Riiiiiiider…" He bellowed.

"HENSHIN!" They both said. Lapis placed his Lockseed into the Driver and cut it while the teen just exploded into flames.

 **LOCK ON! SOIYA!** **SILVER ARMS! THE SILVERY… NEW STAGE!**

The apple came down upon him, folding outwards to make a silver and blue armor. As the armor "splashed" he held a large fanned staff, then struck a combat stance. I, however, merely looked at the black and crimson clad Rider with vents built into his chest, gloves, and boots.

"I don't think I know you…" I tried for the life of me to recall all the Showa Riders, and this guy was _not_ ringing a bell.

" **Worry not, for you shall know… I am the divine fires of justice! Kamen Rider… Dante!** " With that, he too struck a pose.

"... A little on the nose, huh?" I sighed and readied my own battle pose.

"Very well! We shall commence our sports game!" With that, Dante and Baseball Mask ran off to the baseball field while Rhinoblaster raised his arms up. Five large golems clawed their way out of the dirt below us like they were zombies. Their appearances looked as though they were made from the very ground. Soccadillo ran to Rhinoblaster and curled up into a ball.

"READY! TEN! HIKE!" With that, Rhinoblaster kicked the ball towards me. I tried to kick back, but Soccadillo managed to hit me with his body, knocking me back. As the ball landed, Lapis ran over and kicked the ball a bit, dribbling it until he kicked it up into the air, leaped over, and cut his Lockseed once.

 **SILVER SQUASH!**

With that, his leg glowed blue as he kicked the ball towards the golems. The sheer force ripped through the golems and broke them apart.

"H-hey! No fair!" Rhinoblaster shouted as Soccadillo returned to his leg.

"I think I overdid it…" Lapis muttered once he landed and saw the destruction of his kick.

"Well, it's still pretty good. The field's now evenly matched." I said.

"Look! The goal!" Lapis pointed to an empty net on Rhinoblaster's side. "It's unattended!"

"Aight, let's win this!" With that, Lapis used his staff to turned himself into a ball… Yeah. I still can't believe that.

"WHAAAT!? WE CAN'T HAVE TWO BALLS! THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES!" Rhinoblaster shouted.

"Screw the rules, this joke's overused!" With that, I turned the throttle and shifted over to Banno.

" **You're summoning me to play soccer? Is there no lengths to how stupid this can get?** " Banno asked.

"Again, Pony Princess!" I said. Banno kicked Lapis a few times before turning the throttle and pressing the button on his Shift Brace.

" **FINISHING MOVE! FULL THROTTLE!** " Controls were passed to me as I kicked the ball right at Rhinoblaster. The golden energy overwhelmed Soccadillo and as he hit Rhinoblaster, both exploded. Lapis harmlessly rolled into the net. As soon as he entered, he morphed back into his rider form and cheered.

"GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL~!" Lapis exclaimed. I sighed as Lapis came to me. "Hey! We should watch Dante's match!" Lapis ran off as I followed him. "HEEEEEY! DAAAANTE! HOW'S YOUR MATCH?" He asked.

" **Well, I managed to get three outs on Baseball Mask…** " I saw Dante standing up to the plate while Baseball Mask stood at the pitcher's plate.

"I will avenge my loss by making you strike ou- Hey, where's your bat?" I noticed Dante doesn't even have a bat on him.

" **The only bat I have is my fist, blazing with a sense of burning justice!** " … What. The. Fu-

"ENOUGH OF THIS! DIIIIIIIE!" Baseball Mask then threw a baseball that turned into a grenade. "Secret Technique: Black Cross Bomber!" He said.

" **RIDER PUNCH!** " Dante's hand caught on fire as he punched the grenade right back at Baseball Mask with double speed.

"OH SHI-" The grenade impacted Baseball Mask and he exploded into a firey ball of doom.

" **Let justice be burned into all those who are evil.** " Dante's armor then turned into ash and broke apart, scattering into the wind. Likewise, my armor's timer went off, disappearing into a glow of gold data. Lapis took off the Lockseed and cancelled his transformation as well.

"We make a good team! We should do this again sometime." Lapis said.

"Yeeeeeeah…" I shifted eyes for a second as I chuckled.

"Right, introductions. I already know Lapis, but I don't quite know you." Dante asked me.

"Oh… I'm Kelly, Kelly Randall, but most people call me Professor Silverbolt now." I said.

"And what do you fight for?" He asked.

"Oh… Well, mainly to survive. I mean, people want me dead every day. Just last night, some bitch became a demon then took my belt to become a Kamen Rider. It was nuts! Guess I'll bite and ask you." I begin to regret doing so.

"My name is Hotaro Dairou and I fight a never ending battle against the evil forces of Re:Shocker to avenge my girlfriend, Yuna, who died by their machinations. Using the Volcano Belt, I become Kamen Rider Dante, the Divine Inferno of Justice, who blazes with the fires of Prometheus and-"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you there before you make me invent a drinking game." I said.

"Drinking is wrong!" Hotaro said.

"Trust me, once you hit that age, you'll _want_ to drink. Well, seems the threat's gone for now. Guess we'll go back to our worlds." I said as I walked away.

"Kelly, I have the feeling like we'll meet again in some way." Hotaro said. I just shook my head.

"In your dreams." I chuckled.

* * *

Morning broke and we reconvened, discussing our various exploits. I mostly kept the fact that I had help to myself while Ross vaguely mentioned someone helping him. I could tell just from how he described her mask that he knows something about her. I told him about how she'd be our ally and that's when Ross just insisted I don't get involved.

Well, that confirmed him knowing who she is and that she doesn't want me or the others to know. I then got the tokens from the two Displaced and made a Shift Car out of them. Well, they were two Shift Cars that fused together into one. Then Niko showed up and told us about how he's not gonna be helping for the time being because his nephew ended up displacing himself. After trying out the new Shift Car, the two girls departed and me and Ross went back to our homes to sleep.

Thank God that this night's over. Now I can look forward to tomorrow.

* * *

Nimue led the Dark Swan to a 24/7 diner full of people. He looked behind and saw the numerous smoldering corpses of Grimm he had to cut through to get there.

"A lot of negativity here…" The Dark Swan felt uneasy.

"You will find them here." She said.

"And if they don't bend a knee?" The Dark Swan asked.

"Then make a deal with them." The Dark Swan's hand's trembled a bit. "A Dark One _always_ makes a deal." Nimue then faded away as the Dark Swan entered the diner. As he did, he heard an enchanting song. Not enough to bring him into the same noticeable trance that the other patrons were in, however. He looked at the customers.

They bickered amongst themselves, arguing and yelling. He's heard this kind of song before. It was the song of sirens, magical sea creatures that would enchant men to ram their ships into the rocks and sink them. There was one such legend of Poseidon using his own daughter to do this exact thing as a means to exact revenge upon humanity.

He followed the trio of songs over to a table where he saw three hooded figures. He could notice three rubies, all on their necks. They looked at him.

"You're not angry like the others…" One woman revealed her purple skinned face, two twin-tails of purple and green hair tied in a star-themed scrunchie flopped out as her hood came down. She sounded like a usual gothic teenager. The girl next to her did the same, showing her blue face with a cyan and navy colored ponytail.

"I am not like the others." He said.

"Of course you're not… Dark One." The third person revealed her yellow-skinned face. She had orange and yellow curly hair.

" _The_ Dark One!?" The blue skinned girl looked at him and beamed. "EEEEEE!" She squealed. No one seemed to notice her, though, as they were busy bickering.

"You three have drifted far from home, haven't you?" The Dark Swan asked.

"Yes. I could say the same for you, Dark One." The yellow-skinned woman said.

"Why I'm here has nothing to do with why _you're_ here." The Dark Swan said.

"If you gotta know, we were banished here." The purple woman said.

"Yeah. By Starswirl The Bearded." The yellow woman said. Starswirl. That name evoked the image of a man who once spurned Nimue. The Dark Swan only gripped his fists.

"You wish for revenge against Equestria?" The Dark Swan asked. That's when the blue woman shrugged.

"Nah. We just want a meal right now. This world doesn't really have a lot of nourishment. It's like fast food, you know what I mean?" She asked. The Dark Swan knew that they didn't mean literal food, rather the emotional energy that they feed off others, the exact same feelings that the Grimm are attracted too.

"We were able to get that nourishment in Equestria, when we had _magic_. Here? There is none." The yellow woman said.

"Until now." The Dark Swan held his hand and made a small fire. The three girls looked at him with awe.

"NO WAY!" The blue girl said.

"I will help you get the nourishment you need to be strong and in return, we will return to Equestria and show that world what happens when they mess with us." The Dark Swan smirked. However, the four heard a bell ring. The Dark Swan turned to see a white skinned man with pale vermillion curly hair wearing a business suit. The three girls got up as soon as they saw him. The Dark Swan pulled out his dagger.

"Shed that human form. Now!" The Dark Swan said with a stern voice. The man just smirked as a robot walked ahead of him. The robot had the imperfect face of a bald human, the scalp looking more like a skull than a normal head. Brass tubes extended over his body like spider legs as the Dark Swan saw a plate on his chest showing the number **050**. "You're one of them, aren't you?" He asked.

"I was just introducing my friend to a wonderful power when we saw this." The robot said as the man stepped forward.

"You three are talented singers. We can use that for our operation." He said.

"… What operation?" The Dark Swan asked.

"See, my friend here is a manager and he's looking for the next top idol. And I'm looking for the next massive storm." The robot said. The four raised their eyebrows as the man held a red toy car. The robot soon turned into a mass of blurry data and merged with the man, turning him into what appeared to be a robed wizard with multiple tiny blue eyes on his face. He then walked over to two people. He touched one hand with his left palm and after that, he used his left to touch the other person's hand.

Immediately, one person punched the other in the face. The wizard chuckled to himself as he proceeded to do the same to the next row of people and so forth. Once he was done, the entire diner was now a bunch of angry people punching each other.

" **I believe my services are to your liking?** " He asked. The four just looked, with the yellow woman stepping forward.

"Consider this an… unlikely alliance." She smirked.


End file.
